top of page
Search

Rampal 1320 MW (BIFPCL) Coal Power Plant

  • 5 days ago
  • 10 min read

Current Status: Operation


Rampal Coal Power Plant, also known as Maitree Super Thermal Power Project, is a supercritical power plant situated in Sapmari and Katakhali villages under Rampal Upazila in Bagerhat District of Bangladesh (Location: 22.5911, 89.5559). It is 14 km (aerial distance) north of Sundarbans Reserve Forest (SRF) and 32 km south of Khulna city. The power plant is sponsored by Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company Limited (BIFPCL), a Joint Venture Company (JVC) of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and National Thermal Power Company Limited (NTPC) of India, as a private Independent Power Producer (IPP) for 25 years. According to the latest schedule, the power plant started its commercial operation on 17 December 2022 and will phase out in October 2047.


Capacity

According to the plan, the installed (gross) and derated (net) capacity of the Power Plant is 1320 MW (660X2) and 1234 MW (617X2) , respectively. It consists of two plants each with an installed capacity of 660 MW but the present capacity is 617 MW each which is 6.5% less than what it was plan to be (BPDB, 2023). So the capacity is 1320±6.5% MW. By mid-2025, the plant had generated over 10 billion units of electricity, with record monthly outputs exceeding 770 million units (BSS 2025). In April 2026, the plant generated over 760 million units, accounting for over 9% of total national generation (Dhaka Tribune 2026).


Context

On 25 October 2009, the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) announced to build a coal power plant in Rampal in cooperation with the Government of India (GOI). Following the announcement, GOB and GOI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 11 January 2010 to construct the power plant (Hossain, 2023). Accordingly, BPDB and NTPC signed an MOU on 29 January 2012 to form a JVC to implement the project (Dutta, 2012). BIFPCL was formed on 31 Oct 2012 and was registered as a private limited company (BIFPCL, 2023). The Exim Bank of India (INEXIM) quickly approved the loan of $1.6 billion USD (DO, 2017),and after taking the necessary Sovereign Guarantee, the BIFPCL declared financial closure on 10 April 2017 (BIFPCL, 2023).


After the financial closure, BPDB signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and Implementation Agreement (IA) with BIFPCL on 20 April 2013 to buy electricity from the power plant for 25 years after Commercial Operation Date (COD) (BIFPCL, 2023). BPDB and NTPC signed a supplementary joint venture agreement to add additional clauses to the earlier agreement.


On September 22, 2015, an international tender was floated for a power plant project, with Marubeni Corporation, Harbin Electric International Company Limited, and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) submitting proposals as Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractors (Rasel, 2015). BHEL, an Indian State-owned Enterprise, secured the contract for USD 1.49 billion  (EP, 2017). The EPC agreement, signed on 12 July 2016, stipulated a 41-month construction timeline (BIFPCL, 2023). In May 2017, General Electric was awarded a $40 million contract for steam generation at the Rampal power plant (Kabir, 2020).

On 5 October 2013, Prime Ministers Sheikh Hasina and Manmohan Singh jointly unveiled the foundation plaque for the Rampal power plant at Bheramara, Kushtia, via video conference not at the Rampal site itself. The ceremony was held alongside the inauguration of the Bangladesh-India Power Transmission Centre (The Daily Star, 2013).


In 2021, sovereign guarantee in power increased to BDT 416.9 billion ($4.9 billion USD in 2021) which is 56% of the total loan taken by the State-owned Enterprises (SOE) of Bangladesh (Haroon, 2021). It is one of the projects that received a sovereign guarantee of USD 1.6 Billion on 10 April 2017 from India's Exim Bank (DO, 2017).


On August 15, 2022, a significant milestone was achieved in the India-Bangladesh Power Sector Cooperation, as Unit-I of the 2x660 MW Maitree Super Thermal Power Project was effectively integrated with the national grid, contributing 91.7 MW of electricity to the grid (FE, 2022). Power plant started its Commercial Operate on 23 December, 2022 (BPDB, 2023).


The Unit- II of the Rampal Thermal Power Plant in Bagerhat, operating on coal, initiated trial power generation on 24 October 2023 which will initially produce 400 MW of electricity during the trial phase (BS, 2023). 


Land Acquisition

BPDB acquired 1,834 acres for the project. A part of the land was taken from local farmers, while another part was Khasland (state-owned land). Out of the total area, 915.5 acres are used for the first phase, with a capacity of 1320 MW (FE, 2022). Bangladesh Diesel Plant Limited (BDPL), an enterprise of the Bangladesh Army, got the contract for land development for the Power Plant.


In May and June 2025, Dhaka Tribune reported that approximately 800 families were displaced by the Rampal power plant and have suffered long-term livelihood loss, worsening poverty, and severe environmental degradation linked to the project (Dhaka Tribune, 2025)


Finance

The total budget of the power plant is USD 2.3 billion, of which 30% is contributed from equity and 70% from External Credit Agency (ECA). BPDB and NTPC invested USD 350 million each as equity investment, while INEXIM (the Export-Import Bank of India, a development finance institution headquartered in Mumbai) provided a long-term loan of USD 1,609 million. In addition to it, BPDB took a loan from INEXIM to pay its part of the equity investment. Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) gave a guarantee of USD 45 million as the financial insurer of the project.


Sponsors

The power plant is sponsored by Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company Limited (BIFPCL), which is a Joint Venture Company (JVC) with an equal share of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and National Thermal Power Company Limited (NTPC) of India (FE, 2022).


Contractors

After floating an international tender on 22 September 2015, 3 companies, including Japan-based Marubeni Corporation, China-based Harbin Electric International Company Limited and India-based Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited., submitted their proposal as Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contractor for the power plant (Rasel, 2015). Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), a State-owned Enterprise (SOE) of India under the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MOHI), bagged the job costs of USD 1.49 billion (EP, 2017). According to the EPC agreement signed on 12 July 2016, the power plant was to be built within 41 months of the agreement date (BIFPCL, 2023). In May 2017, the US company General Electric was awarded a contract worth $40 million to ensure steam generation at the Rampal power plant (Kabir, 2020). 


BIFPCL also appointed Fichtner Consulting Engineers Limited (Fichtner) of Germany as the Owner’s Engineer for the project (Reinhardt, 2022). Afcons Infrastructure Limited (AIL) and Power Mech Projects Limited (Power Mech) were appointed as the Civil Engineering Contractors of the power plant. At the same time, the jetty and conveyor belt were constructed by Dextra Group India Limited (DGIL) and Bengal Tools EPC Limited (BTL EPC) respectively (Mia, 2022). Electrical Manufacturing Company Limited (EMC Limited) got the contract of laying off the transmission line to evacuate the generated electricity, while Dredging Corporation of India Limited (DCI) was appointed to dredge the Passur River for navigation.


Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS), a State-owned Enterprise (SOE) under Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) prepared the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the project (CEGIS, 2023). It is also involved with the project as the Environmental and Social Monitoring (ESM) Consultant  (CEGIS, 2023).


Coal Supply

On 22 September 2014, BIFPCL signed an agreement with PriceWaterhouseCoopers India Limited (PWC India) as the consultant for long term coal sourcing, Maritime Transportation, Transshipment, Inland Water Transport and Logistics (New Nation, 2014).

On 2 July 2021, a consignment with 3,800 tonnes of coal was sent from Kolkata Port (India) to the Rampal Coal Power Plant (FE, 2021a). 

But BIFPCL authority denied the allegation and told the media that it will not use Indian coal for power generation and the shipped amount of coal is to use for the construction of one of four stockyard floors (FE, 2021b).

Under an agreement signed on March 3, 2022, Bashundhara Group will supply an initial 300,000 tonnes of coal for the commissioning of the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Plant in Rampal, Bagerhat (BG, 2022).

The plant has faced severe and recurring coal shortages since commencing operation. By September 2023, the plant had shut down eight times. In February 2025, the plant exhausted all coal supplies and shut down completely, invoking the force majeure clause of its PPA. The plant requires approximately 6,000 tonnes of coal per day for both units at full capacity (New Age, 2025). In July 2024, India's Ministry of Coal published an action plan proposing increased coal exports to neighbouring countries, identifying Rampal as requiring approximately five million tonnes per year (Gem) . Though Bangladeshi power plant officials stated they had no plans to import Indian coal due to its lower calorific quality (The Business Standard, 2023).


Power Generation

According to the EPC Agreement signed on 12 July 2016, the Commercial Operation Date (COD) of the power plant was 11 February 2021 for the 1st unit and 11 August 2021 for the 2nd unit. The COD was delayed several times due to unsatisfactory performance of BHEL (Kabir 2021b). However, the schedule has been delayed to 11 December 2022 and 11 June 2023, respectively (BPDB 2022). The installation works of the plant started in April 2017 (BankTrack, 2023). BHEL was to complete the installation work of the coal-fired plant within 41 months until August 2020. However it missed the deadline due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and extended it by one more year to August 2021 (Kabir 2021a). Currently, Unit-I is in operation with 617 MW capacity and the Unit-II is in trial phase generating 400 MW of power  (BPDB, 2023; BS, 2023). 


Transmission

In July 2016, Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Limited (PGCB) undertook a project named Aminbazar-Maowa-Mongla 400KV Transmission Line Project with a budget of BDT 2505.37 crore (USD 317.14 million when USD 1=BDT 79) to connect Rampal Coal Power Plant with the National Load Dispatch Center (NLDC) through a 174-km long double circuit transmission line. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a non-concessional loan of BDT 1,270.69 crore (USD 160.85 million) for the project under the multi-tranche Power System Expansion and Efficiency Improvement Investment Program (ADB, 2014). GOB and PGCB invested BDT 897.32 crore (USD 113.58 million) and BDT 337.36 crore (USD 42.70 million), respectively, for the project (PGCB, 2022).


Environment

According to Section 12 of the Bangladesh Environment Protection Act 1995, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is obligatory for any industry (MOLJPA 1995). Polluting industries, such as power plants, must undergo an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and EIA as directed in the Environmental Conservation Rules 2017 (MOEFCC 1997). Coal-based power plants contribute to air and water pollution, releasing greenhouse gases and contaminants. The environmental impacts include soil contamination from ash disposal, habitat destruction due to coal mining, and health risks associated with pollutants. Transitioning to cleaner energy sources is crucial for mitigating these adverse effects. Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS), a State-owned Enterprise (SOE) under Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) prepared the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the project (CEGIS, 2023). The UNESCO team mentioned the EIA report as questionable and called for shelving the project (Mahmud, 2016). The proposed area is not suitable to establish the coal based power plant as the Sundarbans and surrounding areas would be affected permanently by establishing the proposed coal power plant (Chowdhury, 2017).


Criticism

In July 2021, Stephan Doempke, President of World Heritage Watch, further criticized the GOB for constructing the Barisal Coal Power Plant, Payra Coal Power Plant and Rampal Coal Power Plant, which will seriously harm the Sundarbans mangrove forest (FE 2021c).


The Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt) Limited (BIFPCL), overseeing the construction of the Rampal Power Station in Bagerhat, has formally appealed to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) for an extension of the commercial production commencement date to June 30, 2024. This request aims to prolong the previous deadline by one year, ensuring eligibility for five types of tax benefits for a duration of up to 15 years (Waliullah, 2023).


The United States is advocating for phasing out fossil fuel; on the other hand, its own company is supplying boilers for a devastating coal power plant such as Rampal.

 According to the environmental conservation rule 2023 the project falls in the “Red” indicating it as a potential harmful project for the environment (MOEFCC 2023).


People’s Protest

Krishi Jomi Rokkha Sangram Committee (Agricultural Land Protection Struggle Committee), National Committee to Protect Oil Gas Mineral Resources Power and Ports (NCBD), and National Committee for Saving the Sundarbans (NCSS) protested hard in order to cancel the powerplant (NCBD, 2013).


Reference

bottom of page