The first unit of Rampal coal-fired power plant was shut down again due to the coal shortage early Sunday that triggered load shedding across the country. According to official sources at the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Limited (BIFPCL), the operation of the first unit, having 620 MW capacity, came to halt at 3:30 am as there was no adequate coal available in the stock. The BIFPCL officials said they have already completed all necessary procedures to import coal from abroad. “We hope, if everything remains as usual, the plant will resume power generation after the arrival of the imported coal on August 8. Rampal Power Plant shut down for maintenance Earlier, the Rampal thermal power plant was shut down five times in seven months after it was commissioned on December 17 last year and the last outage happened on July 16 due to a technical fault at its turbine. After the repair of the turbine, production resumed on July 20. 26,620 mts of coal for Rampal Power plant arrives at Mongla  As the power production in the first unit of the power plant was shut repeatedly, the experts in the power sector expressed dismay about the start of commercial production of the second unit. Meanwhile, available statistics show that the country experienced about 1,153 MW of load shedding at 5 pm on Sunday though Dhaka city was out of the scheduled power outage. The country generated 12,993 MW of electricity in the afternoon against a demand for 14,200 MW, the PGCB officials said. Rampal electricity cost nearly doubles due to high coal price, increased dollar rate “Mainly, the rural areas in the country suffered from the power outages”, said an official of the PGCB. He apprehends the gap between power supply and demand may increase during the peak hours.

The first unit of Matarbari coal-fired power plant in Maheshkhali of Cox's Bazar district is likely to go into production by this December, adding 600 MW of electricity to the national grid. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the plant, project officials told reporters this week. A ship carrying 64,300 mts of coal for the Matarbari plant had arrived from Indonesia on June 23. The 1200 MW power plant has been built on 1,414 acres of land in Matarbari and Dhalghata unions of Maheshkhali upazila of Cox's Bazar district. Fire in garbage dump at Matarbari Thermal Power Project under control after 8 hours Along with the construction of this power plant with Japanese funding on the coast of Cox's Bazar seven years ago, work has also started on the construction of port infrastructure and jetty for coal offloading from ships. While visiting the area recently, it was seen that the project implementing company, Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (CPGCL), is going ahead with the work of this mega project. The work of the jetty for the coal discharge with the power plant is almost finished. Vessels have also started sailing at the jetty. PM urges JICA to allow farmers to use wastage of sea water in the desalination project at Matarbari The project has changed the entire landscape of the area, said officials. Some 13,104 tons of coal will be required daily to generate electricity at full scale. Coal discharge jetties and silos have been constructed for this. Coal required for 60 days has been kept in the huge silos. Up to 80,000 ton capacity mother vessels can directly enter the coal jetty. And it will take one and a half to two days to unload the coal from the mother vessel. Two separate ashponds are kept to store ash for a lifetime of 25 years of the power plant. One has an area of 90 acres, another spread over 600 acres. Coal yard has been prepared on 80 acres of land for coal storage. 64,300 mts of coal for Matarbari coal-fired power plant arrives A loan agreement on the project was signed between the Government of Bangladesh and JICA on June 16, 2014. The project cost has been estimated at Tk 51,800 crores. Of this, Tk 43,921 crore will be given as project support by JICA and the remaining Tk 7,933 crore will be provided from the own funds of Bangladesh Government and CPGCBL. According to project sources, 95 percent of the jetty and physical infrastructure work has already been completed and 90 percent of the overall physical infrastructure work has been done. Executive Director Nazmul Huq, Matarbari coal-fired plant project said that PM Hasina will inaugurate the power plant in December. Read more: People suffer as severe load shedding continues countrywide “But we want to add 600 MW power from here before inauguration and that will happen. The first unit of the Matarbari coal-fired power plant is scheduled to be commissioned in January 2024, but we expect to be fully operational by this December,” he said. He mentioned that the second unit will be commissioned in next July. However, he said, electricity from both the units will be connected to the national grid. The executive director mentioned that the project is being worked on by ensuring all necessary measures to prevent environmental pollution. “The coal will be seen only once when the coal is unloaded from the ship. Then the coal will go directly from the jetty to the plant. It will not pollute the environment," he said. Read more: 26,620 mts of coal for Rampal Power plant arrives at Mongla Highlighting the overall status of the project, the executive director said, we have two parts of this project, one of which is the power plant, the other is the port. Cox's Bazar Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Shaheen Imran told reporters that the Matarbari Coal Power Project is a priority project of the prime minister.

A ship carrying 26,620 mts of coal for the Rampal Thermal Power Plant in Bagerhat arrived here from Indonesia. Chinese flag-carrying ‘MV Zhe Hai-526’ship arrived here at Harbaria of the Mongla port early Saturday (June 10, 2023). Also Read: Rampal electricity cost nearly doubles due to high coal price, increased dollar rate The unloading of the coal from the vessel started around 9:40 am and it is being deposited to the jetty of Rampal Power Plant through a lighterage vessel. Assistant manager of Shipping Agent Togi Shipping and Logistic Ltd, Khulna, Khandaker Riazul Haque, said the ship carrying the coal left for Mongla on May 27 and anchored at Harbaria-11 in Pashur Channel around 5 am. Also Read: Dollar crisis casts a shadow over operation of Rampal coal-fired power plant The coal will be taken to a coal shed through an automated belt, said Riazul. On May 16, a total of 30,000 metric tonnes and 30,500 metric tonnes of coal arrived at Mongla port by MV Bashundhara Impress and MV Basundhara Majesty, on May 16 and May 29, respectively. Also Read: Transmission from Adani’s Gadda power plant to national grid resumes

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.  

Operation of another unit of 1,320 MW coal-fired Payra power plant is going to be suspended soon due to coal shortage, according to Bangladesh-China Power Company (Pvt.) Limited (BCPCL) officials. The plant has two units each having 660 MW and the first unit of the two has already been shut following the coal crisis. "Now the remaining unit may run until June 2", said Shah Abdul Moula, plant manager of the BCPCL. BCPCL, a joint venture of the Chinese firm China National Machinery Import & Export Corporation (CMC) and Bangladeshi state-owned North-West Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (NWPGCL), is the owner and operator of the Payra power plant. Read more: IPPs call for uniform import duty on primary fuels The plant manager said that the plant is currently operating one unit having 660 MW while another 660 MW unit was closed last week. Moula said that the overdue payment against the coal import actually created this critical situation. The overdue amount now stands at more than $400 million. "But recently we received a permission from Bangladesh Bank to pay $50 million to the coal supplier against the overdue", he said adding that this will help arrange to resume coal import. Read more: Separate entity needed to deal with matters relating to coal: Energy experts But still it will take about a month to receive the coal supply and we hope we may not get before June 28, said another official of the BCPCL.  According to official sources, the Payra power plant needs to import 3 lakh metric tonnes of coal every month to operate the plant in full swing. They said the BCPCL normally opens LC through state-owned Sonali Bank to import the coal. But recently Sonali Bank regretted opening the LC due to the dollar crisis. Admitting about the problems, the BCPCL officials said the authority has already communicated the issue to the Power Division to take necessary measures. Read more: Committee to review existing deals on coal purchase for power generation Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on March 21 last year inaugurated the 1320 MW ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plant at Patuakhali's Payra on a day when she also declared the country's 100 percent electricity coverage. This milestone achievement puts Bangladesh ahead of India and Pakistan among the South Asian nations to light up every house with electricity. BCPCL set up the plant using Ultra Supercritical Technology at over $2 billion as part of a development partnership on 982.77 acres of land. The Export-Import Bank of China lent $1.96 billion for the project. The company started operation in 2016. Read more: Bashundhara Group wins bid to supply 8 million MT of coal to Rampal power plant This kind of coal-fired power plant using Ultra Supercritical Technology is the thirteenth in the world and seventh in South Asia. The Ultra Supercritical Technology used for this plant aims at protecting the environment in line with the government's policy, officials said. 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. The Payra and another 1320 MW Rampal power plants have been implemented targeting the power evacuation from both the two plants and transmit power to Dhaka city and adjoining areas to meet growing power demand. Read more: Illegal coal furnaces leave Khulna gasping for breath & answers The Payra 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-product 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 the same time. Bangladesh's power generation capacity reached 25,514 MW from just 3200MW in 2009, according to the data.

Removal of discrepancies in the import duties imposed on primary fuels, which are used as inputs in power generation, can reduce the government’s subsidies in the power and energy sector. The notion is being put forward by the private power producers of the country, also known as IPPs (independent power producers). They are claiming that the discriminatory import taxes on primary fuels - furnace oil (diesel), coal, and gas (LNG) - ultimately favours the coal-fired power plants that projects the government’s biases towards ‘the dirtiest fuel’. Currently there is a 5 percent duty on the import of coal, which rises to  34 percent on furnace oil, aka heavy fuel oil (HFO), and 22 percent on gas. Read more: Ilisha-1 country’s 29th gas field: Nasrul Hamid As a result, the price per MMBtu (metric million British Thermal Unit) of coal comes to Tk 10-11 and when power is generated from coal, it costs Tk 12-13. After adding 5 percent import duty, the cost of electricity from coal-fired power plants becomes Tk 13-14.   On the other hand, the price per MMBtu of HFO comes to Tk 11-12 and the power generation from the HFO costs Tk 11-12 due to its higher heat value. But when the 34 percent import duty on HFO is added, its power generation cost becomes Tk 15-16 per unit. In the same way, the cost per MMBtu of imported gas is Tk 11-12 and its power generation cost becomes 10-11 due to its higher heat value. But after adding the import duty of 22 percent, the per unit electricity generation cost from gas-fired plants goes up to 13-14 per unit. “If the discrepancies are removed from duty regime, and import duty on all fuels is made uniform at 22 percent, the production cost of electricity from diesel-fired plants will be lower than that of coal-fired power plants,” said Imran Karim, former president of Bangladesh Independent Power Producers Association (BIPPA), the trade body representing the interests of private power producers. Read more: Many big industries using illegal gas connections: Nasrul Hamid Karim, also the vice chairman of Confidence Group, a leading firm in private power generation, said the duty should be uniform considering the government’s commitment to support cleaner fuels - coal being the original dirty fuel. Furnace oil of course is no better. “The government will receive more revenue from imported fuels, if the duty on all fuels are equalised,” he added.  According to the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s estimate, in the current fiscal 2022-23, the power and energy sector will require over Tk 23,000 in subsidies to cover its losses. Of this, the power sector will require Tk 18,000 crore while around Tk 6000 crore would go on primary fuels. Read more: New PSC: Petrobangla awaits final nods to invite int’l bidding for offshore blocks Earlier, the loss in the sector was estimated much higher at over Tk 70,000 crore due to the excessive price hike of gas, coal and petroleum fuel following the war in Ukraine that began in February 2022. But after the enhancement of fuel prices on the domestic market by more than 40 percent pn average and power tariff by more than 15 percent, the losses came down and subsequently the requirement for subsidy was also reduced to around Tk 23,000 crore, said officials at the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources. Private power producers claim that if the import duty on coal and furnace oil were made the same as that on gas, i.e. 22 percent, it would reduce overall costs and thus reduce the subsidy as well. “Because, the power generation by furnace oil-based plants will automatically go down and it will ultimately have an impact on the overall tariff structure in the power sector by seeping through to both the wholesale and retail levels,” said an IPP plant operator. Read more: Petrobangla initiates move to end foreign company’s monopoly in pre-paid gas metering system Power Cell director general Mohammad Hossain said that both coal and furnace oil are dirty fuels, so by the IPPs’ logic, the import duty on these two fuels should be higher than on gas - not uniform. “The import duty on coal and HFO should be equal and import duty on gas could be comparatively lower as it is the cleanest of the three,” he said. 

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.    

The government has 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 to import coal for use in power generation. “The 9-member high level committee was formed on January 23 and its first meeting is set to be held on Monday (Feb. 20),” a top official of the Power Division told UNB in exchange for anonymity, since he isn't authorised to disclose it to the media. . 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. The Power Division issued an internal office order in this regard notifying the matter. 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. As per the deal, a BPDB official said, the price of coal will be “pass-through” which means Bangladesh will have to pay the market price for coal imports, without any price ceiling or discount provision. Adani Power recently sent a request for BPDB to issue the demand note, where the coal price is quoted at $400 per metric ton - 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) is 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 BPDB official said. 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. 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)”. Official sources said the terms of reference of the review committee mentions that it will review the coal pricing mechanism of the coal supply agreements (CSA) and power purchase agreements (PPA) with the IPPs to make necessary recommendations and also the coal pricing index of the coal supply countries. Read more: Rampal electricity cost nearly doubles due to high coal price, increased dollar rate  

Unit-1 of the 1329MW Rampal Coal-fired power plant will resume production from Wednesday (February 15, 2023), still under a test run that started in August before being discontinued last month. According to official sources, Unit-1, having 660 MW capacity, was forced to shut down on January 14 due to shortage of coal supply. The authorities of the power plant were unable to open any letter of credit (LC) to import coal due to the dollar crisis. Read More: Bashundhara Group wins bid to supply 8 million MT of coal to Rampal power plant After a lot of persuasion at the government’s policy level, LC-opening was allowed for importing coal and the supplier sent a consignment of 30,000 metric tons. “The imported coal reached the jetty of the power plant on February 9 and now we are set to resume operation at the unit-1 of the plant from Wednesday,” said Anwarul Azim, deputy general manager of the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Limited (BIFPCL) told UNB. The BIFPCL, a joint venture of Indian state-owned NTPC and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), is the owner and operator of the Rampal power plant. Read More: Maitree Super Thermal Power Plant in Rampal a concrete manifestation of India-Bangladesh friendship: Pranay Verma The official said another that another consignment of 50,000 MT of coal is also coming to the country soon. He also informed that the plant’s unit-2 is expected to come into operation in June this year. Sources said though the unit-1 is now under test run as the BPDB which has a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the BIFPCL has not given the go-ahead yet for start of the commercial operation of the plant. Meanwhile, BIFPCL officials said that State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid is expected to visit the plant on Thursday. Read More: Stolen device worth Tk 47 lakh of Rampal Power Plant recovered in Bagerhat; 4 arrested

Bashundhara Group has won the bid to supply 8 million tonnes of coal to the Rampal coal-fired power plant. According to official sources, three companies submitted bids to supply the coal. “Bashundhara came out as the lowest bidder offering $232.33 per MT of coal under the index of ICI-2 to reach the product up to the jetty of the power plant”, a top official of the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt.) Ltd., (BIFPCL), told UNB. The BIFPCL invited the tender a few months back and three companies—local Bashundhara, Akij and Dubai-based Commodity First--submitted their respective bids to win the coal supply contract. The bids were opened on Monday and Bashundhara became the first lowest offering the coal price at $232.33 per MT while Commodity First became the second lowest with its offer to supply coal at $234 per MT while Akij Group offered the coal price at $282 per MT. Also read: Rampal Plant starts electricity production, 660MW from unit-1 added to nat’l grid Earlier, Bashundhara Group had won the first bid as well to supply a limited 300,000 MT of coal for the 1320 MW Maitree Super Thermal Power Plant (2X660 MW) at Rampal of Southern Bagerhat district. At that time, its joint venture consisted of two subsidiaries—Bashundhara Food and Beverage Industries Ltd. (BFBIL) and Bashundhara Multi Trading Limited (BMTL)—participated in the international tender of the BIFPCL and won the tender. The Maitree super thermal power project, known as Rampal power plant, was constructed by the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (BIFPCL), a 50:50 joint venture between the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)., started test operation on December 23 last year. The BPDB represents the Bangladesh government in the joint venture while NTPC represents the Indian central government. Dhaka and Delhi made a decision to build the plant under joint venture in 2010 and it took about 13 years to set up the plant. The BPDB will purchase the entire output of the plant under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA). But BPDB is yet to confirm its commercial operation date (COD). The COD will start once the BPDB is satisfied with its non-stop performance as per the agreement. When contacted BIFPCL’s chief procurement officer (CPO) Ziaur Rahman informed that the 8 million MT of coal will meet the 3 years requirement of the power plant with two units in operation. He said the coal will be unloaded either in Chattogram port or in Mongla Port depending on the available facilities and then it will be transported to the plant’s jetty through small ships each having 3000 MT to 5000 MT capacity. The official informed that the coal will be imported from Indonesia. According to Bashundhara Group, the local conglomerate, Bashundhara Multi Trading started its journey in 2018 to supply high-quality coal and stones for public-private projects. The company has become a leading venture in the sector through establishing a strong supply chain network with its services and transportation system, said the Bashundhara website. END/UNB/SH/JA