AMN/ WEB DESK
The first unit of the Maitree Power Project at Rampal will be commissioned in December this year in Bangladesh, coinciding with the country’s Golden Jubilee Celebration of the Liberation. The second unit is expected to be commissioned matching with the implementation of the associated transmission system. An official press release issued in Delhi said this after the virtual meeting between the Power Secretaries of India and Bangladesh yesterday.
The meeting was held to discuss issues related to the environment- friendly supercritical technology-based 1,320 MW thermal power plant at Rampal. It was attended by senior officials including the officials from Ministry of Power (MoP), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), High Commissioner of India in Bangladesh, Department of Heavy Industries (DHI), Central Electricity Authority (CEA), NTPC Ltd. BHEL and BIFPCL.
India assured Bangladesh that BHEL and BIFPCL are confident to meet the timeline for the completion of the project with the support of the Government of Bangladesh in the matter of entry permission and visa approvals for the highly skilled manpower from India, customs related issues and vaccination of the workforce.
Despite the COVID situation since last year, posing challenges to the people of both the countries and affecting the implementation of the Maitree Project, both sides are putting the best effort to complete the project in time.
The Bangladesh Government’s Secretary of Power assured of the necessary support for completion of the project in time and appreciated the progress made by the project so far, despite the COVID constraints since last year.
This meeting was convened after the 8th High-Level Monitoring Committee meeting held last year during which certain critical issues were identified that required to be addressed for timely commissioning of the first unit in December this year.