A part of the Line of Credit extended by India will be used to build transmission infrastructure around Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. India is presently awaiting a draft proposal from Bangladesh.
India had signed third and largest ever line of credit agreement worth USD 4.5 billion with Bangladesh in 2017.
A Ministry of External Affairs official told Nuclear Asia: “The exact amount from the Line of Credit that will be spent on the transmission infrastructure around Rooppur is not yet finalised. We are awaiting a draft proposal from Bangladesh.”
While announcing the line of credit during the visit of Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to Dhaka, 17 projects of development priority to Bangladesh such as power, railways, roads, shipping, ports etc were also identified. The Line of Credit will provide loans at a concessional interest rate of 1 per cent annually with repayment over a period of 20 years including a five-year moratorium.
Earlier, this year the Bangladesh government has given approval to the project for constructing 700 km transmission line from RNPP. The transmission lines are planned to reach five different district of the country and are going to cost around USD 1.5 billion.
The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, the first plant for Bangladesh is being made with the financial, technological and training support from Russia and India. Russia will be providing USD 11. 38 billion towards the construction of two units at the plant that will be powered by VVER-1200 nuclear reactors. The total project is estimated to cost around USD 12.65 billion. India will be training the Bangladesh personnel, who will eventually be operating the nuclear power plant.
The energy generated from the RNPP plant will give impetus to Dhaka’s ambition to push the country into a middle income country by 2021 and a developed country by 2041.
