NTPC expects JV pact for Bangladesh project by month-end

New Delhi, Jan 23 (PTI) India's State-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) expects to sign a joint venture agreement for the 1,320 MW Khulna power project in Bangladesh by the end of this month. "The project would be a 50:50 JV between NTPC and the Bangladesh government. We expect to sign the JV agreement for Bangladesh project by January 29," NTPC CMD Arup Roy Chaudhary told reporters on the sidelines of an India energy conclave here today. NTPC and Bangladesh Power Development Board ((BPDB) had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in August last year to establish two thermal power projects at Chittagong and Khulna for mitigating the power shortages in the neighbouring country. The power plants are likely to come up at an investment of around Rupees 132.0 billion (about USD 2.6 billion). The coal-fired power plants are likely to be installed on a 50:50 equity basis to be run on imported coal and operated by NTPC. About the 500 MW project in Sri Lanka, Chaudhury said the financial closure for the same is expected to be achieved by September this year. The construction of the project is likely to start by April next year. A 50:50 Joint Venture company between NTPC and Ceylon Electricity Board, Sri Lanka, was incorporated in the name of Trincomalee Power Company Ltd on September 26, last year in Sri Lanka that would set up a 2x250 MW coal based power project in Trincomalee region. PTI