An engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement was signed here today to set up the 2×660 MW Maitree Super Thermal Power Project at Rampal Upazila under Bagerhat district.
Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt) Limited (BIFPCL) signed the agreement for Main Plant EPC (Turnkey) Package with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), India, at Pan Pacific Sonargaon hotel in the city.
General Manager of BHEL Prem Pal Yadav and Managing Director of BIFPCL Ujjwal Kanti Bhattacharya signed the deal on behalf of their respective institutions.
The BIFPCL selected the BHEL through an international open bidding process as BHEL was found technically qualified and financially most competitive.
Construction of the project would contribute immensely to the overall development of the country especially its power sector. The contract value of the project is $ 1.49 billion, which will be financed by Indian Exim Bank.
The plant is expected to come to generation during the financial year 2019-20.
The project was adopted stringent environmental norms with highly efficient machineries. The state of art technology has been selected for this project to make it an environment-friendly project.
Moreover, the BIFPCL has voluntarily adopted various measures to safeguard the environment and also to uplift the livelihoods of local people.
Among others, the contract agreement signing ceremony was attended by the Advisor to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh on Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury. He addressed the function as chief guest while State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid joined it as special guest.
Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Office Abul Kalam Azad, Power secretary Monowar Islam, Power Secretary of India Pradeep Kumar Pujari, High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Chairman and Managing Director on NTPC Limited, India Gurdeep Singh and Chairman of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) M Shamsul Hasan Miah addressed it as guests of honor.
The BIFPCL is a registered company in Bangladesh and promoted by BPDB of Bangladesh and NTPC Limited of India with equal (50:50) equity contribution for development of power projects in Bangladesh.
Maitree Super Thermal Power Project is the first such project being developed by BIFPCL and it is one of the Fast Tract Projects identified by Bangladesh government.