Bangladesh
Rampal Power Plant India sends first consignment of coal for Rampal power plant
Dhaka, July 3: India has sent the first shipment of coal to Bangladesh via the Sundarbans for the Rampal Power Plant at Bagerhat. About 4,000 metric tonnes of coal was exported to Bangladesh from Netaji Subhash Dock (NSD) at Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port (SMP) in Kolkata on Friday. This has been reported by Indian media sources.
The coal is being brought from Dhanbad in Jharkhand for the India-Bangladesh Friendship Rampal Thermal Power Station, a joint venture of NTPC of India and PDB of Bangladesh at Rampal in Bagerhat near the Sundarbans. The first consignment of 3,800 metric tons was unloaded at the Kolkata port and taken to the captive jetty designated for the power plant. Godavari Commodities is the exporter of this coal through ZS Logistics.
An NTPC press release as said 20,000 metric tons of Indian coal will be exported to Bangladesh every month from Kolkata.
Left-wing parties and environmentalists have been protesting against the 1,300-megawatt power plant in Rampal, a joint venture with India, which would threaten the world heritage and the environment of the Sundarbans.
However, the government of Bangladesh said that this power plant is being constructed using the latest technology to protect the Sundarbans, so that the damage to the environment will be kept to a minimum.
Exim Bank of India has lent Tk 160 crore for the construction of this Tk 200 crore power plant. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, a state-owned company in India, is working on the construction.
