Rooppur nuclear power project gets ECNEC nod
STAFF REPORTER
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) yesterday approved the countrys biggest ever project, the Establishment of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (main phase), at an estimated cost of Tk. 1,13,092.91 crore to construct two units of a nuclear power plant with a capacity of 2,400 MW. The approval came at the ECNEC meeting of the current fiscal year, held at the NEC conference room in the citys Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, planning minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said the ECNEC had approved the projects involving the highest costs in the history of Bangladesh.
He said a total of 12 projects were approved with an estimated cost of Tk. 1,52,712.41 crore. Of the total project cost, Tk. 35,068.73 crore will come from the state exchequer, Tk. 1,627.37 crore from the organisations own fund and the remaining Tk. 1,16,016.31 crore from project assistance, he said.
Mustafa Kamal also revealed that the ADP implementation rate during the JulyNovember period of the current fiscal year was 19.13 per cent, with an overall expenditure of Tk 23,594 crore. The ADP implementation rate was only 17 per cent during the JulyNovember period of the last fiscal year when the expenditure was Tk. 17,011 crore. Were hopeful that well be able to implement the Tk. 1,23,000-crore ADP in the current fiscal year, he added.
He was also very optimistic that the GDP growth in the current fiscal year would be between 7.2 and 7.5 per cent. The minister says there are currently around 67 nuclear power plants in 31 countries and the number would increase to 168 by 2030.
Mustafa Kamal, commonly known as Lotus Kamal, says even though the establishment cost of the nuclear power plant is high, the rate of return will be much higher. The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) under the science and technology ministry will implement the main phase of the mega project by December 2025. Of the total project cost, Tk. 22,052.91 crore will come from the state exchequer while the restTk. 91,040 crorewill come as project assistance from the Russian Federation. The main operations under the project are installation of two units of the nuclear power plants, each having a capacity of 1,200MW, as well as formulation of detailed design, training, procurement of necessary equipment and LTME, procurement of nuclear energy, commissioning and testing, and appointment of necessary manpower in various phases of project management unit.
Meanwhile, the Russian government has approved a loan of up to USD 11.38 billion to build the nuclear power plant. The loan will be used for the construction of the plant from 2017 to 2024. Bangladesh will repay the money over 20 years in equal semi-annual instalments starting from March 15, 2027.
An agreement was signed on December 25 last year by the BAEC and Russias Rosatom. The Rooppur nuclear power plant will be located on the eastern bank of the Ganga, 160km from Dhaka. It will have two reactors with a capacity of 1,200MW each. The first reactor will become operational in 2022 and the second will open a year later. The lifespan of the reactors is 60 years, with an option to extend it by 20 years. The power generated in the plant will cost Tk. 3.5 a unit.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation stone of the project in October 2013 and then a Bill was passed in Parliament to form a company to run the plant. According to the law, the BAEC will own the plant and the Nuclear Power Plant Company Bangladesh will run it.
The ECNEC meeting also approved the Jamuna Railway Bridge construction project at an estimated cost of Tk. 9,734.07 crore. Bangladesh Railway will implement the project by December 2023 with Tk. 7,724.32 crore as project assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Under the project, a 4.8-km-long dedicated dual-gauge steel rail bridge will be built about 300 metres upstream of the existing Bangabandhu Bridge.
The ECNEC also gave its nod to the huge extension and strengthening of the power distribution system in DPDC-controlled areas (for Tk. 20,501.52 crore) to ensure uninterrupted and standard power supply to DPDC areas. The Chinese Exim Bank will provide Tk. 13,844.29 crore on a governmentto-government (G-to-G) basis for this project, which will be implemented by DPDC by December 2021.
The other projects approved in the ECNEC meeting are Skills for Employment Investment Programme (Phase 1) (first revised) for Tk. 2,107.93 crore, strengthening of the physical infrastructure and research capacity of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (for Tk. 375.71 crore), establishment of National Digestive Diseases Research Institute and Hospital (first revised) for Tk. 216.26 crore, construction of Chittagong-Feni-Bakhrabad gas transmission parallel pipeline (with Tk. 1,962.38 crore), capacity strengthening of existing Bangladesh (Bheramara)-India (Bahrampur) inter-grid (first revised) with Tk. 1,877.92 crore, Anowara-Fouzdarhat gas transmission pipeline (for Tk. 776.11 crore), construction of town union land offices throughout the country with Tk. 731.86 crore, construction of academic and residential buildings of Dhaka University with Tk. 619.46 crore and development of water-logged and flood-affected roads, drains, protection wall, bridge and culvert construction and reconstruction in Chittagong City Corporation areas (entailing Tk. 716.28 crore). Ministers and state ministers attended the meeting. Planning Commission members and secretaries of relevant departments were also present.
