The government has signed a $600 million loan agreement with the World Bank to improve electricity supply in eastern Bangladesh.
The global lender says the credit for the ‘Rural Electricity Transmission and Distribution Project (T&D)’ will help 25 million rural people get electricity.
The project will support construction of new lines and new substations, while upgrading existing ones in the rural areas of Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions to reduce system losses and enhance the capacity of the rural electricity network in Bangladesh.
The loan has a 40-year maturity time, including a 10-year grace period, and carries a 0.75 percent service charge.
Economic Relations Division Secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin and World Bank acting head Christine Kimes signed the agreement on Thursday.
Kimes said the project would contribute to stepping up economic activities and reducing poverty in the rural areas.
“Access to energy promotes economic growth and prosperity and has a positive impact on income, expenditure and education,” Kimes said.
According to the World Bank, only 42 percent of the rural population currently has access to electricity in Bangladesh.
The government is aiming at ensuring universal access to electricity.
The World Bank says the project will reduce technical losses in the rural grid and increase energy availability to consumers, thus improving the quality of supply for 25 million people in rural Bangladesh.
“It will contribute to increasing the capacity of the transmission and rural distribution system to supply and distribute additional power to rural consumers as additional generation becomes available,” it says.
Mejbahuddin welcomed the project, as it would help the government to strengthen its rural power supply network and improve the efficiency of the power system.
The global lender says the rural electrification program of Bangladesh is recognised globally as “one of the most successful programs in the world”.
However, over the years the transmission and distribution network has become overstretched.
This project will provide support for upgrading the network as well as strengthening the institutional capacity of the rural electricity service delivery.
Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) and the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) will implement the project.
Source: Bd news24