Coastal shipping between Bangladesh, India gets nod, too
The cabinet on Monday approved the draft ‘Nuclear Power Plant Bill 2015’ that would allow formation of a company to implement and operate the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.
The lone nuclear power plant project is being implemented under the science and technology ministry with financial and technical assistances coming from Russian government.
‘The cabinet has given the final approval to the draft law which is now subject to vetting by the law ministry,’ cabinet secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told a press briefing after the cabinet meeting.
The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, presided over the meeting at the secretariat.
Some of the activities under the project had begun in March 2013. However, the project is supposed to be completed by June 2017. Its operation would begin in 2021, he said.
The nuclear power project with 1,000-megawatt generation capacity is to be implemented in keeping with the safety standard set by International Atomic Energy Agency.
The cabinet also approved a separate proposal for establishing ‘Nuclear Power Company of Bangladesh’ to implement and operate the power plant project.
In another development, the cabinet also endorsed an agreement on coastal shipping between India and Bangladesh to allow river and sea cargo vessels in the Bay of Bengal.
Bangladesh and India recently signed a draft agreement in New Delhi to facilitate coastal shipping to boost bilateral trade.
Shipping ministry secretary Shafiq Alam Mehedi and his Indian counterpart Rajive Kumar signed the draft ‘Coastal Shipping Agreement’ on April 20, the first day of their three-day talks held in the Indian capital.
‘The costal shipping agreement with India would facilitate trade and transportation of goods between the two neighbours through inland and coastal waters,’ Shafiq told New Age.
Initially, said officials, bilateral cargo traffic would use Chittagong, Mongla, Narayanganj (Pangaon) and Ashuganj ports of Bangladesh and Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Paradip and Haldia of India.
Source: New Age