The government has approved the tariff proposal for the country’s largest solar power plant that will be set up in Rampal under Bagerhat district.
According to the proposal, the Power Division will buy electricity produced at the 300 MW solar power plant at a rate of Tk 11.067 kilowatt per hour.
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) approved the proposal during a meeting held virtually with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair.
Briefing reporters virtually after the meeting, Cabinet Division additional secretary Sayeed Mahbub Khan said that the CCGP meeting approved eight proposals including the tariff proposal for the largest solar power plant.
Power Division will purchase electricity at this rate for 20 years with the total cost of Tk10,762 crore, he said, adding that Saudi Arabia-based ACWA Power Company will set up the solar power plant with an investment of $430 million to be built next to the Rampal coal-fired power plant.
The land will be provided by the Bangladesh Electricity Development Board, he mentioned.
Two private sector companies in Bangladesh – Comfit Composite Knit Ltd and Viyellatex Spinning Ltd – will also invest in the plant, which will run on the build-own-operate method, he added.
Mahbub said once its operation is launched, power will be purchased from the aforesaid companies under "No Electricity, No Payment" basis.
In the overall arrangement, there will be a 12 percent discount factor, 6 percent tax at source and 18.5 percent plant factor.
He informed that following two separate proposals from the Ministry of Commerce, the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) would procure some 6,000 metric tons of lentil under local Open Tender Method (OTM) from Nabil Naba Foods Ltd for the current fiscal year (FY24) with around Tk 57.05 crore where per KG lentil would cost Tk 95.09 against the previous price of Tk 94.44.
On the other hand, the TCB would procure some 40 lakh liters of rice bran oil under local Open Tender Method (OTM) for the current fiscal year (FY24) from Majumder Bran Oil Mills Ltd with Tk 64.60 crore where per liter oil would cost Tk 161.5 against the previous price of Tk 169.25.
Mahbub said the day's CCGP meeting also okayed five separate proposals from the Ministry of Industries for procuring some 1.25 lakh metric tons of fertilizer from different sources.
The Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) would procure some 25,000 metric tons of rock phosphate from M/S Agro Industrial Input, Dhaka with around Tk 97.82 crore with per ton rock phosphate costing $359 against the previous price of $375.
The BCIC will procure 10,000 metric tons of phosphoric acid from M/S Best Eastern, Dhaka for the TSPCL in Chattogram with around Tk 58.86 crore with the price of per ton phosphoric acid at $540.
Meanwhile, the BCIC will procure 30,000 metric tons of bulk prilled urea fertilizer from Muntajat, Qatar in 1st lot under state-level agreement with around Tk 130.52 crore with per ton fertilizer costing $397.33 while the BCIC will purchase another consignment of 30,000 metric tons of bulk granular urea fertilizer from Muntajat, Qatar in 2nd lot also under state-level agreement with around Tk 131.13 crore where per ton fertilizer would cost $399.17 against the previous price of $397.33.
Besides, the BCIC will procure 30,000 metric tons of bagged granular urea fertilizer from KAFCO, Bangladesh in the 3rd lot with around Tk 129.18 crore with per ton fertilizer costing $393.25.
