Exim Bank entends $1.6 bn loan to Bangladesh India Friendship Power Co.

The Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) on Tuesday said it has extended $1.6 billion loan to the Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company Ltd (BIFPCL) for financing 1,320 MW ultra-super-critical Maitree Super Thermal Power Project in Bangladesh.

"Exim Bank has extended a term loan of $1.60 billion to BIFPCL -- a 50:50 joint venture between the Bangladesh Power Development Board and NTPC - for financing the 1,320 MW ultra-super-critical Maitree Super Thermal Power Project on turnkey basis at Rampal, District Bagerhat, Bangladesh," the bank said in a statement here

The Facility Agreement to this effect was exchanged on Monday.

The contract for the construction of the project on turnkey basis has been awarded to Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL), following an international competitive bidding process.

"State of the art technologies have been selected for this project to make it an environment friendly project," it said.

Once commissioned, the Maitree Super Thermal Power Project is expected to be one of the largest power plants in Bangladesh. The power plant is part of the Bangladesh government's plan for infrastructure development in the country, particularly in the power sector.

With the signing of the above facility Agreement for $1.60 billion, Exim Bank's total credit assistance to Bangladesh stands at $4.462 billion till date, which also includes two government of India-supported Lines of Credits (LOCs) of $2.862 billion extended by Exim Bank to Bangladesh.

The first LOC of $862 million was extended in August 2010 for financing export of goods and projects including development of railway infrastructure, dredging, construction of bridges, procurement of buses, locomotives, and coaches.

The second LOC of $2 billion was extended in March 2016 for financing various social and infrastructure development projects in Bangladesh, such as power, railways, road transportation, information and communication technology, shipping, health and technical education sectors.

--IANS

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