Adani's power transmission line costs up 195%

The government has approved the amendment proposal for the Barapukuria-Kaliakair 400KV line construction project for the transmission of Adani's electricity from Jharkhand, India, to the national grid.

The expenditure in the newly-approved proposal has increased 195% or Tk6,483.5 crore compared to the original proposal.

The second revised proposal of the project was approved at the National Economic Council Executive Committee (Ecnec) meeting held at the Planning Commission in Sher-E-Bangla Nagar on Tuesday.

Abdul Baki, member of the Industry and Energy Division of the Planning Commission, said in a press conference that the cost of the Indian Line of Credit (LoC) financed project has also increased due to the increase in dollar price and the cost of various packages.

The cost of the project has increased from Tk4,052 crore to Tk9,805 crore after the approval of a revised proposal. The project was originally estimated to cost Tk3,322 crore when construction began in 2019. The Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) is implementing the project, which has physical progress of 66.91% as of April 2023.

Abdul Baki said that the project's cost has risen by Tk1,230 crore due to the surge in dollar prices, by Tk1,565 crore as the line will cross over the Jamuna River using modern technology. Furthermore, the CD VAT has surged by around Tk1,500 crore, and there has been an additional Tk1,000 crore spending rise in the import of various materials.

The overall expenditure in the second revised proposal has risen by Tk5,753.61 crore compared to the first revised proposal, he added.

The construction work of the project to install the necessary infrastructure for the transmission of electricity generated from the Adani (Jharkhand, India) power plant and from the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant started in January 2019.

According to sources, India was initially expected to provide a loan of Tk1,744 crore for the commencement of this project. However, the loan amount has now increased to Tk6,208 crore. Additionally, Tk2,840.88 crore will be allocated from the Bangladesh government funds, and Tk756 crore will be contributed by the PGCB.

Initially, the project, which began in January 2019, was scheduled to be completed by June 2022. However, the first revised proposal extended the deadline to June 2024. In the second revised proposal, the project duration has been further extended by one and a half years.