The cabinet on Monday approved a draft loan agreement for signing with Russia for construction of the US$ 12.65 billion ‘Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant’ in Bangladesh.
The Economic Relations Division placed the draft agreement at the weekly cabinet meeting held at Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban with prime minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
‘The cabinet has okayed the draft credit deal to be signed with the Russian Federation for construction of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant,’ cabinet secretary Muhammad Shafiul Alam told a press briefing at the secretariat after the meeting.
The deal would be signed anytime in July or August, he said adding that specific date and venue for signing the credit deal had not been fixed yet.
‘The government will borrow US$ 11.38 billion from Russia for the Rooppur Power Plant construction at an interest rate not exceeding four percent,’ the cabinet secretary said.
The country’s first ever nuclear power plant is being implemented at Rooppur, Pabna with supplier’s credit from Russia.
Bangladesh will have to pay back the loan in 30 years in installments with a 10-year grace period, Shafiul said.
As per the draft deal, the installment would begin from March 2027, he added.
The proposed 2400-megawatt nuclear power plant being constructed, also with the technical support of Russia, would have an economic life of 50 years, said officials.
Under the agreement, Russia would provide US$ 11.38 billion as supplier’s credit and Bangladesh would meet the rest of the amount for construction of the nuclear power plant.
The cabinet also approved the draft National Telecommunications Policy 2016 with a target to make mobile phone available for all by 2021, Shafiul said.
The cabinet secretary said that the 10-year policy that would replace the National Telecommunications Policy of 1998 aims at increasing the tele-density to 90 per cent from 80 per cent by 2018.
He said the proposed policy also has a target to increase the number of internet users to 90 per cent from 34 per cent by 2025.
The meeting also approved a shipping ministry proposal to withdraw the cabinet decision made in 1989 for the introduction of open registry system for foreign vessels.
The cabinet withdrew its previous decision so that ‘mixed registry or closed registry system’ could be followed for the foreign vessels as practiced in most other countries, the cabinet secretary said.
Source: New Age
