United News of Bangladesh

The Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase (ACCGP) on Tuesday recommended approval of a proposal for repair works at the Bibiyana South 400 MW Combined Cycle Power Plant under the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed presided over the meeting held at the Secretariat. According to the Power Division’s proposal, the repair works will cost Tk 901.85 crore. The contract will be implemented by the consortium of Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG, Germany, and Siemens Energy Bangladesh Limited. The Power Division is the sponsoring ministry while BPDB will execute the project. The Bibiyana South 400 MW Combined Cycle Power Plant is a gas-fired power project in Sylhet, Bangladesh, that commenced commercial operation in 2023. It is also referred to as the Bibiyana-III project and was developed by the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). The project is designed to operate as a combined-cycle power plant using natural gas as its fuel source.  The meeting also approved two separate proposals for the import of a total 75,000 metric tons of Muriate of Potash (MOP) fertiliser under state-level agreements with Russia and Canada. ACC to probe irregularities at Rampal thermal power plant According to the proposals, 35,000 (±10%) metric tons of MOP fertiliser will be imported from Russia’s JSC “Foreign Economic Corporation (Prodintorg)” under the third lot of an existing agreement with the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC). The procurement will cost Tk 154.90 crore with each metric ton priced at US$361. Another 40,000 (±10%) metric tons of MOP fertilizer will be imported from Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) under the seventh lot of a state-level contract with BADC. The total cost has been estimated at Tk 177.03 crore, with the same unit price of US$361 per metric ton. Both proposals, placed by the Ministry of Agriculture with BADC as the implementing agency, were recommended for approval by the committee. It approved a proposal to import one cargo of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from the spot market under the Public Procurement Rules, 2008. According to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, the LNG cargo—scheduled for delivery between November 25 and 26, 2025 (47th cargo)—will be procured from M/S Aramco Trading Singapore Pte Ltd. at a cost of Tk 499.16 crore. The unit price has been set at US$11.88 per MMBtu, the proposal noted. The purchase committee also approved two separate proposals for the construction of nine new power substations under the project titled “Modernization and Capacity Enhancement of BPDB’s Power Distribution System (Khulna Division) (Special Revised)”. Under package no. MCEP/BREB/KD-W-11, four new 33/11 kV (10/14 MVA) GIS-type substations will be built at a cost of Tk 104.67 crore. The work has been awarded to TSTL-EEL Consortium (TS Transformers Limited – Energypac Engineering Ltd.). Similarly, under package no. MCEP/BREB/KD-W-3, five new 33/11 kV (10/14 MVA) GIS-type substations will be constructed at a cost of Tk 151.04 crore. The contract has been awarded to Reverie Power & Automation Engineering Ltd. Both proposals, placed by the Power Division with Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) as the implementing agency, were recommended by the committee for final approval. Meanwhile, a proposal for the construction work under the project “Construction of Elevated Road and Physical Infrastructure Development in Haor Areas”, being implemented by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), was withdrawn from the agenda of the meeting. The proposal involved work in Dharmapasha upazila of Sunamganj district.

Haripur 360 MW combined cycle power plant (CCPP), which generates electricity at lowest cost, is unlikely to get extension after completion of its 22-year initial contract period. According to official sources, the power plant, established by leading US company AES Corporation in 2001, completed its successful operational period in November 2023. Since then, the government has not taken electricity from the plant.    The AES Corporation developed two large base-load power plants—Haripur 360 MW CCPP in 2001 and Meghbaghat 450 MW CCPP in 2002—with the highest efficiency, but lowest cost.   As per the power purchase agreement (PPA), state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) had been purchasing electricity from the two first generation independent power producer (IPP) plants. BPDB officials said that initially, Haripur's power tariff was Tk.1.56 per unit, which is the lowest not only in Bangladesh, but also in the world. According to a World Bank document publicly disclosed on June 24, 2014 which compared the power generation cost of different IPPS, shows that when the Khulna Power Company Limited was selling electricity to the BPDB at Tk 16.03 per unit in 1998, NEPC at Tk 20.20 per unit in 1999, Haripur was selling it at Tk 1.56 per unit and Meghbaghat was selling power at Tk 2.33 per unit. Read more: Bangladesh to provide 190 acres of land in Kurigram for Bhutanese investors; discussion to import hydropower underway Currently, the average generation cost is over Tk 10 per unit. Through a gazette notification issued on March 1, the government set the retail tariff of electricity at Tk 8.95. Officials said, until last year BPDB was buying electricity from the plant at Tk 3.32 per unit which was the lowest among all other private power plants. But in November 2023, the PPA expired and BPDB suspended purchasing electricity from the plant. The BPDB’s such move surprised many as it was unlikely on the part of the government that it unilaterally stopped buying electricity from the most efficient and lowest cost power when it continued purchase of electricity from high cost plants belonging to Summit Group and other plants. “Actually, there was no strong lobby on behalf of the Haripur plant to pursue the government to renew its contract with the BPDB. That’s why the country will be deprived of the low cost electricity,” a top official of the BPDB told UNB requesting anonymity. He, however, said the government can offer the owner-company of the Haripur plant to buy it and operate under the BPDB management. Read more: Power cuts plague Sylhet: Frustration growing among residents and businesses Sources said the USA-based AES Corporation developed the Haripur and Meghnaghat power plants, after a number of changes into their ownership. Now Malaysian Pendekar Energy Limited owns and operates the two plants.          In 2003, AES sold the plants to the UK company CDC Globeleq, which sold the plants to Malaysia-based Pendekar Group in 2007. Official sources said the government had to pay Tk 50-55 crore a month to purchase electricity from the Haripur power plant for its 360 MW electricity. “But from November 2022, the operator of the plant has not been receiving any bills from the BPDB for which it lost interest to continue its operation”, said another source. He also mentioned that BPDB is also not interested to extend its operation as it has  contractual obligation to buy electricity from newly established plants like Summit Group’s Meghnaghat Plant, Unique Group’s Meghnaghat plant and also some coal –fired power plants which electricity cost is between Tk 6.50 to Tk 30 per unit. Read more: First private sector solar project in Bangladesh secures $121.55 million funding from ADB

Five security personnel, including two Ansar members, at the Rampal Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plant sustained injuries following a “robbery attempt” by a group of assailants on Wednesday night. The injured are Akram, Saidul Islam, Mintu Bouragi, Brazen Mandal and Habi Kamal Pasha. The power plant’s Deputy General Manager Anwarul Azim said approximately 50-60 armed individuals attempted to infiltrate residential areas of the power plant around 11:30 pm. When the security personnel tried to thwart their entry, the armed men attacked them, resulting in injuries. Of the injured, two were urgently transported to Khulna Medical College and Hospital for medical attention, while the remaining three received treatment at the Rampal Upazila Health Complex, said the DGM. Somen Das, the officer-in-charge of Rampal Police Station, confirmed that law enforcement agencies are actively pursuing leads to identify and apprehend the culprits. As a precautionary measure, additional police forces have been deployed to secure the power plant and its surrounding areas, aiming to prevent further incidents and ensure the safety of the plant's personnel and infrastructure. Bagerhat Superintendent of Police (SP) Abul Hasnat Khan said the Ansar members of the power plant opened 30 rounds of bullets to deter the robbers. In the firing one of the robbers sustained injuries, he said, adding that they have already arrested 11suspects. The arrestees are being interrogated at Rampal police station and drives are on to arrest others, the SP said.

Despite demand being nearly half of electricity generation capacity, the government of Bangladesh continues to extend the tenure of costly rental power plants. The latest decision for extension of contract for a gas-based rental power plant was made in the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase on November 8. As per the decision, a 55 MW gas-based rental power plant of Precision Energy Ltd. will get an extension of 5 years to their existing contract with the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). Under the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), the BPDB will buy electricity from the plant at a tariff rate of US Cent 5.7 (equivalent to about Tk 6) per kilowatt hour while it has been buying electricity from base-load plants at around half the price.  Read: Despite surplus electricity, contracts of 10 rental power plants extended in four months For instance, the government has been purchasing electricity from Summit-GE's Bibiyana 450 MW gas-fired power project at US 3.32 cents per kilowatt-hour, with a contract for a period of 22 years. The government approved a PPA in October 2021 under which Consortium of (1) Edra Power Holdings Sdn Bhd, Malaysia and (2) Winnievision Power Ltd, Bangladesh, will set up the 660 MW base-load combined cycle plant and the BPDB will purchase electricity from the plant over a contract period of 22 years at a levelised power tariff of US 3.679 Cents (equivalent to Tk 2.94) per kilowatt hour to be run by local gas. The move for continuing the extension of rental and quick rental power plants' contracts raised the eyebrows of the energy experts. Many experts and power industry insiders believe that such a move to continue entertaining the costly rental power plants will increase the burden on the government for more subsidies, at a time when the sector has already been facing huge capacity payments' obligation with surplus capacity of electricity generation reaching about 50 percent.    Read: Power flow set up from Payra plant to Rampal sub-station Last year, the government extended the contracts of at least 10 rental power plants with a new provision of “No Electricity, No Payment” but kept a fund allocation of Tk 6,564.08 crore to pay the owners of the rental power plants. This time also Tk 1205.40 crore was kept as allocation while approving the latest extension proposal of Precision Energy's 55 MW Ashuganj gas-fired rental power plant which will be paid in in next 5 years.   According to the Power Division’s official statistics, as of September 13, 2023, the country's power generation capacity was 27,834 MW including off-grid renewable and captive power, while the highest generated in a day was 15,648 MW. The BPDB official data shows the country generated 14,021 MW on September 26, while covering the excess demand by resorting to load shedding of 113 MW. Read:  5 rental power plants with 457 MW get 2-year extension The demand was decreasing with the coming winter and the country's power demand was recorded to be 10,954 MW on November 8 while on-grid installed capacity was showing 25,339 MW meaning that the surplus capacity was more than double at 14,385 MW. State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, however, defended the extension of the rental power plants’ contracts saying that the deals were extended for “emergency necessity” to tackle the current situation when last year 10 rental power plants' contracts were extended. “As there is a gas shortage, we have to run liquid-fuel based rental and quick rental power plants on full capacity to meet the demands," he had told UNB. He also said these plants don’t oblige the government to make 'capacity payment' - i.e. payment for unused electricity, that was the case with some earlier contracts. “As a result, the cost of electricity from these extended rental power plants came down by 30-40 percent from the original cost," Nasrul Hamid said. The government documents show that of the approved 5 plants in March last year, three belong to Summit Group, one belongs to Dutch-Bangla Group and one to Orion Group. 'Admit the mistake first' About the country's growing surplus electricity and extension of rental power plants, vice president of Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Prof M Shamsul Alam said: “There will be a big indiscipline in the power sector as pressure for private sector’s capacity payment will continue to go up while import of primary fuel will be increasing. Finally, it will lead to energy insecurity." Read: Deal period with rental, quick rental power plant owners can’t be extended: BPDB Chairman In such a situation, he said, the only way-out is that the government has to admit first it has done a mistake by giving permission to the private sector for excessive power generation without consideration of the demand and then change the current policy and strategy. Otherwise, the situation will be more difficult to manage as pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is coming to raise electricity tariff again. If so, it will further push up inflation, he added.

Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) is going to officially receive a fresh batch of uranium from the Russian contractor, Rosatom, at a formal “Graduation Ceremony” on Thursday (tomorrow, October 05, 2023). According to official sources, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin are expected to virtually join the historic ceremony to mark the occasion. Sources said Director General of the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, Aleksey Likhachev, will hand over the fuel officially to the project authority in Rooppur project. Science and Technology Minister Architect Yeafesh Osman will preside over the function while Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will join the ceremony through video conference. Md. Ali Hossain, Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology, said that all arrangements are ready for making the Graduation Ceremony a success. “We have made all necessary arrangements to mark the historic moment,” he told UNB. Earlier, the first batch of uranium, the nuclear fuel of the first unit of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, arrived in Bangladesh on September 28. The consignment of uranium arrived in Dhaka from Russia through a special air cargo and it was moved to the nuclear power plant site by road under heavy security the next day. The nuclear fuel was brought to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka by a special plane from a factory in Russia. Read: First batch of uranium for RNPP reaches Rooppur amid tight security The fuel was produced at the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant (NCCP) in Russia, a subsidiary of Rosatom's fuel manufacturing company Tevel. Rosatom, as a Russian contractor, has been engaged in building the 2400 MW Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant with two units, each with the capacity of producing 1200 MW electricity. The nuclear reactor of the first unit of the power plant was loaded in October 2021 while reactor for second unit was installed in October 2022. The government conceived the idea of setting up the RNPP project in 2009 and signed a memorandum of understanding with the Russian Federation on May 13 in 2009 on the “Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy.” On January 15, 2013, an agreement regarding State Export Credit of US$ 500 million was signed for carrying out preparatory phase construction works of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. The government signed a US$12.65 billion general contract (GC) in 2015 with the Russian Federation for building the nuclear power plant in Rooppur. Bangladesh signed a credit agreement with Russia to obtain $11.385 billion Russian credit for RNPP in July 2016. The credit covers 90 percent of the project cost. Read: Support truss installed at Unit-2 reactor building of Rooppur RNPP The Ministry of Science and Technology recently said that the first unit of the plant may come into operation in July 2024 and the second unit in July 2025. However, Project Director of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Project Dr. M Shawkat Akbar said that the government is expecting to commission the first unit of the RNPP in September next year and second unit in mid of 2025. Though the 1200 MW first unit of the nuclear power plant at Rooppur is expected to start production from next year, the Power Division and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) are still in dark about the possible tariff of the electricity of the plant. According to sources at the Power Division, the officials of the BPDP sat in a number of meetings with the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) to discuss a possible power tariff of the plant, but they failed to get a clear picture in this regard. The BAEC has been implementing the RNPP project and the BPDB will purchase electricity from the Russian-aided plant under a long-term agreement. A top official of the BPDB, however, said that they have made a primary calculation on the basis of the data derived from the discussions with BAEC and reports in the newspaper and tariff of per unit electricity of the RNPP will be not less than Tk 10. According to some local experts' calculation the power tariff of the RNPP project will cross $0.08 -0.10 (8-10 US cents). Read more: Key stage completed in manufacture of RNPP’s first reactor pressure vessel One of the country's eminent power tariff experts, Mizanur Rahman, former Member of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), said the electricity tariff from the nuclear power project will be more than over $0.085 (8.5 Cents).

Power production at Rampal Thermal Power Plant in Bagerhat district has been suspended since Friday night due to maintenance work. Syed Ekramullah, Managing Director of Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company (BIFPCL), said the energy production at the power plant halted at 8:45 pm on Friday due to inspection and maintenance work. “We have suspended the production due to maintenance, inspection work and technical glitch from June 30 night and we’ll try to resume the production on June 4,5 or 6,” he said. 26,620 mts of coal for Rampal Power plant arrives at Mongla  Talking about the coal situation, Ekramullah said there is plenty of coal and a huge quantity of coal will arrive on June 5 by ship. The 1320 MW coal-fired power plant has been set up at a cost of approximately USD 2 billion and is located in Rampal, in the Bagerhat district under Khulna division of Bangladesh. Rampal electricity cost nearly doubles due to high coal price, increased dollar rate The Maitree Super Thermal Power Project was constructed under the Indian government’s concessional financing scheme. On September 6, 2022, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly unveiled unit-1 of the power plant. Dollar crisis casts a shadow over operation of Rampal coal-fired power plant

Payra Thermal Power Plant’s operations came to a complete halt at 12:05 pm today, with its second unit shutting down due to coal crisis. The shutdown of the power plant worsened an already severe load shedding situation in Dhaka city and elsewhere, according to BPDB officials. Earier, the other 660 MW unit of the power plant was closed on May 25. BPDB officials said due to the shutdown of the second unit of Payra power plant, the country’s load shedding has increased to 2675 MW at 12 pm today, which was 2287 MW on Sunday. It means the country had to experience 388 MW of added load shedding due to the closure of Payra power plant's operations, said an official of BPDB referring to the data of the National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC). He said the country generated 12099 MW of electricity against a demand of 14900 at 12 pm today. NLDC’s evening forecast shows that the country’s demand will go up to 15800 MW when generation is expected to be 14,400 MW. Also Read: Coal shortage: Production at another unit of Payra power plant may suspend after June 2 However, officials said the country may experience more than 3500 MW of load shedding in the evening peak period The 1,320 MW coal-fired power plant is expected to resume operations on July 1 as the process of importing coal has already started through the opening of LC, said Shah Abdul Hasib, superintendent engineer (operation) at the plant. He said the shipment will arrive by June 25. “After the shipment of coal arrives, we will be able to resume the plant’s operation by July 1,” he said. He said opening LC takes some time due to the current global situation and dollar crisis. Payra power plant needs to import 3 lakh metric tonnes of coal every month to operate the plant in full capacity. Also Read: Operation of 1,320 MW coal-fired Payra power plant is likely to face closure over coal crisis The power plant has to spend about US$ 5-6 million every month to import the required coal. Payra power plant officials said the power plant is burning some 13,000 tonnes of coal a day. It has a 76.30-acre dumping zone where 25 years’ worth of by-products can be kept. The plant is currently importing coal from Indonesia. It has its own jetty, whose conveyor belts can unload 3,200 tonnes of coal every hour from four vessels at a time. After undergoing test runs for about five months, the first unit of the Payra power plant started commercial operation in May 2020. In October 2020, the second unit of the 660 MW plant, a joint venture of Bangladesh and China, started its commercial operation.  

Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt.) Limited (BIFPCL), a joint venture of Bangladesh Power Development Board and India's NTPC Limited, has released a recruitment circular. Under this institution, 12 people will be appointed in five category posts in Rampal project. Interested candidates should apply online. Job circulars in Rampal power plant in 2023 1. Post Name: Assistant Manager (HR/Admin) No. of Posts: 3 Eligibility: Must have a Master's Degree with Graduation in HR/Management/Public Administration from a recognized university or MBA (HR) degree in such subject. Third Class/Department is not acceptable at any level of education. GPA should be 3.5 on a scale of 5 and CGPA 3.0 on a scale of 4. Should be fluent in Bengali and English with good computer skills. Experience in related field will be preferred. Age: Maximum 30 years Work Place: Rampal Project Site, Bagerhat Basic Salary: TK.52,000 Read more: Here's how you can apply for a Canadian work visa from Bangladesh 2. Post Name: Assistant Manager (Law) No. of Posts: 1 Qualification: Bachelor's Degree in Law from a recognized University. Master's Degree in Law will be preferred. Third Class/Department is not acceptable at any level of education. GPA should be 3.5 on a scale of 5 and 3.0 on a scale of CGPA 4. Should be fluent in Bengali and English with good computer skills. Experience in related field will be preferred. Age: Maximum 30 years Work Place: Rampal Project Site, Bagerhat Basic Salary: TK.52,000 Read more: Job Circular in Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant 3. Post Name: Imam (Staff Level-3) No. of Posts: 1 Eligibility: Fazil or equivalent pass from recognized Madrasah/Institution. Must have Master's degree in Al-Fiqh and Legal Studies from any Aliya Madrasah, Kamil or Dawrae Hadith from any Qawmi Madrasah or any university. Third Class/Department is not acceptable at any level of education. GPA should be 3.5 on a scale of 5 and 3.0 on a scale of CGPA 4. Should be fluent in Bengali and English with good computer skills. Must have at least five years working experience as Imam/Mufti in a big institution/mosque. Preference will be given if Hafez-e Qur'an and Ilme Qiraat are certified. Age: Maximum 45 years Work Place: Rampal Project Site, Bagerhat Basic Salary: TK.26,000 Read more: Jobs Circular in Dhaka Custom House 2023: Custom House, Dhaka will hire 48 posts 4. Post Name: Priest (Staff Level-3) No. of Posts: 1 Qualification: Graduation or equivalent from a recognized institution. Must have at least five years work experience as priest/scholar in any big institution/temple. Third Class/Department is not acceptable at any level of education. GPA should be 3.5 on a scale of 5 and 3.0 on a scale of CGPA 4. Should be fluent in Bengali and English with good computer skills. Kavyatirtha or any such certificate will be given preference. Age: Maximum 45 years Work Place: Rampal Project Site, Bagerhat Basic Salary: TK.26,000 Read more: Recruitment Circular in Bangladesh Army 2023 5. Post Name: Security Supervisor (Staff Level-IV) No. of Posts: 6 Qualification: HSC or equivalent pass from recognized institution. Must have at least five years of work experience in the relevant field in a large organization. Third Class/Department is not acceptable at any level of education. GPA should be 2.0 on a scale of 5 and CGPA 4 on a scale of 2.25. Should be fluent in Bengali and English with good computer skills. Preference will be given to retired officers from Army/Navy/Air Force or BGB. Age: Maximum 45 years Work Place: Rampal Project Site, Bagerhat Basic Salary: TK.23,000 Benefits: Basic salary along with housing allowance, medical facility, bonus, provident fund, gratuity, other fringe benefits will be provided as per the organization policy. Type of Job: Initially three years contractual. The contract period is renewable upto the age of 60 years on the basis of satisfactory performance of the worker. Age limit: Upper age limit for departmental candidates is 35 years for posts No. 1 and 2. Upper age limit is relaxable up to 32 years in case of children and grandchildren of veer freedom fighters/martyred veer freedom fighters. Conditions: The persons appointed to the posts No. 1 and 2 have to sign the service bond to serve this organization for three years. Read more: Ausbildung in Germany for Non-EU Students including Bangladesh , How to apply in Rampal power plant jobs Interested candidates should apply by filling the form on this website (http://bifpcl.teletalk.com.bd/bifpcl_new/) . Detailed information regarding recruitment can be known in this link. (http://bifpcl.teletalk.com.bd/bifpcl_new/docs/BIFPCL_3rd_Advertisement.pdf)

Bangladesh has recently approved payment of USD $318 million for payment to Russia in the Chinese currency of yuan for construction of the Rooppur nuclear power plant.  A meeting held recently between the Economic Relations Division and Russian officials decided that the payment will be made in yuan at a Chinese bank account, Uttam Kumar Karmkar, head of the European affairs of Economic Relations Division (ERD), Ministry of Finance confirmed  to UNB. He said that the decision was taken to use the Chinese currency yuan for debt repayment at a meeting of the ERD last Thursday. Read more: Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project delayed by Russia-Ukraine War: Yeafesh Osman He said that although the decision has been taken to use Chinese currency to repay the loan, the transaction has not yet been completed. Payment details need to be clarified and resolved. Citing the diplomatic sensitivity of the matter, he declined to comment further. Dhaka's decision seems to have resolved the problem of making any payment to sanctions-hit Russia in the US dollar.  Read more: Return of Russian vessel carrying consignment for Rooppur won’t delay project work: Minister Last year, Western countries excluded Russia from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, or SWIFT, one of the world's payment systems, due to its military invasion in Ukraine. The Rooppur nuclear power plant is being built in Bangladesh with a loan from Russia. But due to sanctions on Russia, it is not possible to pay in US dollars.  

It has become essential to form a separate entity to deal with matters related to importing coal for both public and private power plants in Bangladesh. Some recent scams in coal price fixing made it even more necessary in order to protect the interests of the state, as there are various allegations against the coal-fired power plant operators. Energy experts are of the view that only a separate and strong state agency can work effectively in this regard. Officials of the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) would also prefer a separate entity to be responsible for both import of coal and also work as a monitoring body to check any untoward practices in coal purchase for the power plants. Also Read: Top policymakers briefed about outcome of meeting with Adani on coal pricing: Sources “Since coal is a pass-through item in power generation and the BPDB has to ultimately pay the bills, there should be a state-owned entity which will import the coal directly and monitor the price of coal to be imported by any private power plant operator,” a top official of the organisation told UNB, preferring not to be named.         Supporting the idea of forming a state-owned separate entity for importing coal and supervising any coal import by the private sector, eminent energy expert Dr M Tamim said such a body for coal is essential for Bangladesh, just like the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) exists for hydrocarbons. “We can form a body like Coal Bangladesh like Coal India in our neighbouring nation,” he told UNB. He noted the reality that Bangladesh does not have any experience in coal import. Also Read: Adani Group starts discussion with Bangladesh to resolve issues on coal pricing So if any company manipulates coal prices through underhanded dealing with suppliers, it will be difficult to identify such unfair means for non-experienced officials, he added.   The coal price issue came into the forefront in recent days following the unearthing of the Indian Adani Group’s power purchase agreement (PPA) with the BPDB, and controversies surrounding the steep purchasing price for coal quoted to BPDB by Adani Power. Adani Power recently sent a request for BPDB to issue the demand note, where the coal price was quoted at $400 per metric ton (MT) - far above what BPDB officials believe it should be given the present state of the international market. “In our view, the coal price they have quoted ($400/MT) was excessive - it should be less than $250/MT, which is what we are paying for the imported coal at our other thermal power plants," the official said. They mentioned that the price of coal is coming down in the international market. Also Read: Committee to review existing deals on coal purchase for power generation To adjust the coal price,  the BPDB sought a revision to the PPA it signed with Adani Power Ltd for importing electricity from its 1600 MW thermal power plant in Jharkhand, India. Against the backdrop of a heated debate over the issue, the government formed a review committee, headed by Power Secretary Habibur Rahman, to analyse the existing deals signed by the public, private and joint venture power companies, including the one with Adani, to import coal for use in power generation. The 9-member high level committee was formed on January 23 and its first meeting was held on February 20. Besides the Power Secretary, the committee also includes the Chairman of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), additional secretary of Power Division (coordination), representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office, Finance Ministry, and Commerce Ministry; the chief engineer (power generation) of BPDB, managing directors of the power generation companies, and the deputy secretary (development) of the Power Division, who will also act as member secretary of the committee. Read more: Rampal’s unit-1 to resume power generation Wednesday under 'test run' About the outcomes of the review committee meeting, Power Secretary Habibur Rahman said the committee needs to sit in more meetings. “It’s too early to give any substantial outcomes right at this moment…We need to hold more meetings”, he told UNB. Official sources said the review committee was formed following the report that Bangladesh will incur a financial loss of Tk 700 crore per month and Tk 8,400 crore annually due to the “faulty deal” signed with Adani Power to import electricity from its coal-fired 1600 MW Godda plant in Jharkhand state of India, first reported by UNB in January. The BPDB sent a letter to the Adani Group seeking a revision to the existing PPA following the request it received in relation to opening LCs (in India) to import the coal that will be used as fuel for the 1,600 MW plant in Jharkhand. Read More: Bashundhara Group wins bid to supply 8 million MT of coal to Rampal power plant The BPDB sent the letter date January 23 referring to State Minister-led delegation’s recent visit to the Adani plant mentioned, “During the discussion your side also opined that suitable mechanism will be devised to reduce this inconsistency of coal price by adjusting/changing the coal pricing mechanism of the power purchase agreement (PPA)”. BPDB officials alleged that the price of coal for the Patuakhali's Payra power plant was set at 15-16 percent higher than the market price in connivance with corrupt officials.