Bangladesh Economy: News & Updates

[UKBengali]

Typical Bangladeshi delusions. BHEL supplied equipment in Rampal power plant is designed to work with high ash content coal sourced from India.

Nah BD government has said only the highest quality coal will be used.

 

[gslv mk3]

Nah BD government has said only the highest quality coal will be used.

Well we'll decide that.

 

[UKBengali]

Well we'll decide that.

Nothing you won't as BD will decide lol

That is if this plant ever gets built in the first place.

 

[gslv mk3]

Nothing you won't as BD will decide lol

Yeah, if your past decisions are an indication of that.

 

[Abba_Dabba_Jabba]

Typical Bangladeshi delusions. BHEL supplied equipment in Rampal power plant is designed to work with high ash content coal sourced from India.

Indian coal are actually are of bituminous type and not the best quality available in the world, but if the power plant has components from Indian firm BHEL then I think the plant is suitable for Indian coal.

Coal from Australia and South Africa are of Anthracite type, and good quality but bit expensive.

 

[TheNoob]

GULAMI GULAMI GULAMI

 

[TopCat]

Indian coal is not even considered in the feasibility study, let alone importing. Its either indoneshia or australia.

 

[TopCat]

The SCAM is real considering the fact that these guys,

a) Don't have any of their own money - they borrow money (with varying levels of success) from questionable sources in US.

b) Have never built anything exceeding four stories, much less over a hundred stories.

c) They have greased the palm of Bangladeshi govt. officials - presumably including Muhith.

d) Their history of medical fraud is well-documented here in the West Coast of the United States.

There will be no building built in Dhaka.

What they will do is simply gain the allotment of hundreds of acres of land at unbelievably discounted price and sit on it and later sell it - turning a profit.

Tell me - there are tons of reputable heavy-weight real estate companies in the Middle East, Malaysia, Thailand, even India. How come those companies aren't in the running or even in the picture?

Classic SCAM.

You are too naive. The lands are under govenment master plan for this new city. They wont be able to use it for any other purpose for instance a stadium. This is probably a ppp project and financing is not a big deal if govt allows them to use local foreign bank to arrange fund for them. Besides no real state in bd requires 100% financing as they will selll the property as work progresses.

 

[Hasan89]

Has the plans for the stadium to be there done yet?. I'm Eager to see some news on the cricket stadium BD cricket team will get in purbachal.

 

[bluesky]

Govt. plan is ok. Problem is that 142 storied structure. I am skeptical because the group plays fraud games and the soil there cannot sustain the heavy vertical load.

 

[Nilgiri]

Topcat vs Bilal9, guess we will have to wait and see who is right in the end!

 

[bluesky]

A high-level government delegation has toured three countries – Indonesia, Australia and South Africa – and submitted a report saying the coal from these countries is suitable for the plant.

Delegation member and Power Cell Director General Mohammad Hossain said: “Because Indian coal is low quality, it was not even mentioned in the project proposal. If Indian coal is used, the power plant will fall. So Indonesian, South African or Australian coal will be used there. Those are of far better quality than Indian coal.”

Indian coal will not be used in the Rampal coal-based power plant because of its low quality, the authorities told the Bangla Tribune’s Shafiqul Islam.

Australian, Indonesian and South African coal contain less sulphur, about 1 to 2 percent and therefore they are more environment-friendly. Indian coal contains 6 to 7 percent sulphur.

In reply to a query, Mohammad Hossain said: “Coal for Rampal will be obtained through a tender process. Suppliers will provide coal according to the terms and conditions of the tender. The government has no hand in this.”

Bangladesh’s environment act bans the import of coal that contains more than 1 percent sulphur.

Coal Power Generation Company Managing Director Abul Kashem told Bangla Tribune: “Australian, Indonesian and South African coal are of high quality and much better than Indian coal. Authorities have recommended those kinds of coal for Rampal.”

In 2015-16 financial year, 2.3 million tonnes of Indonesian and South African coal was imported through Chittagong port. On the other hand, only about 100,000 tonnes of Indian coal came through the custom stations in Sylhet. In the previous years the amount of Indian coal import was 1.7 to 2 million tonnes.

High prices and low quality were discouraging importers from going to India for coal.

According to the Sylhet Coal Importers Association, Indian coal costs $85 per tonne or around Tk6,700. After import this is sold at Tk7,500. On the other hand, Indonesian and South African coal costs $52 per tonne and after import their price is Tk6,000. Importers said coal from Australia would cost about the same. These low prices are the reason importers are diverting their attention away from Indian coal.

The association said Bangladesh’s annual demand for coal is 4 million tonnes, of which 3 million come from India. Coal is used in brick kilns, tea stalls, re-rolling steel mills and road construction among other purposes.

According to Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology’s chemical engineering department, around 80 to 90 thousand tonnes of coal is extracted from the Barapukuria mine in Dinajpur annually. This coal is used in the state-owned Barapukuria 250-300MW power plant.

In some years, a small amount of surplus coal from Barapukuria is given to local brick kilns. No other coal mine in the country is in production, though there are a growing number of coal-based power plants. Once the 1,360MW Rampal thermal power plant is operational it will require 4.5 million tonnes of coal annually – nearly equal to the current national consumption.

See more at - http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2016/09/06/indian-coal-used-power-plant-will-fall/

I am very glad to read this Rampal report contributed by Dhaka tribune. But, there is one big wrong information in this elaborate reporting. It says Indian coal contains 6 to 7% of sulphur when in reality the sulphur content is somewhere between 20 to 40% depending upon the mines. The sulphur content even varies within any single mine. Indian coal thus will contain from 20 to 40% of sulphur.

BD imports Indian NE coal that is burned in all the brick fields. This has caused air pollution in Dhaka. BD's own coal in any mine contents less than 2% of sulphur. This is one reason that BD local coal should be used in Rampal. But, infrastructure in the mine fields are not strong. Rly uses for transporting the goods may become expensive.

This is why coal with low sulphur content will be imported from other foreign sources. I have heard of this foreign import long since the concept stage of Rampal. Now, it is good that the GoB has re-expressed its intention about the matter and people's mind will be cleared by this. No more Anu Mohammed, hopefully.

 

[dy1022]

 

[oprih]

That's understandable, anything that comes out of india is of low quality.

 

[punit]

The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Port forms a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday, protesting a move to set a power plant at Rampal, an adjacent area to Sundarbans

The authorities concerned are saying that the machinery in Rampal power plant would be harmed if Indian coal were used

A high-level government delegation has toured three countries – Indonesia, Australia and South Africa – and submitted a report saying the coal from these countries is suitable for the plant.

Delegation member and Power Cell Director General Mohammad Hossain said: “Because Indian coal is low quality, it was not even mentioned in the project proposal. If Indian coal is used, the power plant will fall. So Indonesian, South African or Australian coal will be used there. Those are of far better quality than Indian coal.”

Indian coal will not be used in the Rampal coal-based power plant because of its low quality, the authorities told the Bangla Tribune’s Shafiqul Islam.

Australian, Indonesian and South African coal contain less sulphur, about 1 to 2 percent and therefore they are more environment-friendly. Indian coal contains 6 to 7 percent sulphur.

In reply to a query, Mohammad Hossain said: “Coal for Rampal will be obtained through a tender process. Suppliers will provide coal according to the terms and conditions of the tender. The government has no hand in this.”

Bangladesh’s environment act bans the import of coal that contains more than 1 percent sulphur.

Asked if coal from the Fulbari coal mine will be used in the plant in the future, he said: “How do we transport coal from Fulbari to Rampal? There’s no waterway. Can it be done by road? Rampal will need 10,000 tonnes of coal every day. So we will need railways and wagons. Do we have that? Can we imagine the cost of laying these lines, getting these wagons and transporting this much coal every day? The whole idea is just fanciful.”

Coal Power Generation Company Managing Director Abul Kashem told Bangla Tribune: “Australian, Indonesian and South African coal are of high quality and much better than Indian coal. Authorities have recommended those kinds of coal for Rampal.”

In the international market, high quality coal is $70 per tonne and low-grade coal costs between $50-60 per tonne.

Importers said coal prices were dropping worldwide and export out of Indonesia and South Africa had increased.

In 2015-16 financial year, 2.3 million tonnes of Indonesian and South African coal was imported through Chittagong port. On the other hand, only about 100,000 tonnes of Indian coal came through the custom stations in Sylhet. In the previous years the amount of Indian coal import was 1.7 to 2 million tonnes.

High prices and low quality were discouraging importers from going to India for coal.

According to the Sylhet Coal Importers Association, Indian coal costs $85 per tonne or around Tk6,700. After import this is sold at Tk7,500. On the other hand, Indonesian and South African coal costs $52 per tonne and after import their price is Tk6,000. Importers said coal from Australia would cost about the same. These low prices are the reason importers are diverting their attention away from Indian coal.

The association said Bangladesh’s annual demand for coal is 4 million tonnes, of which 3 million come from India. Coal is used in brick kilns, tea stalls, re-rolling steel mills and road construction among other purposes.

According to Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology’s chemical engineering department, around 80 to 90 thousand tonnes of coal is extracted from the Barapukuria mine in Dinajpur annually. This coal is used in the state-owned Barapukuria 250-300MW power plant.

In some years, a small amount of surplus coal from Barapukuria is given to local brick kilns. No other coal mine in the country is in production, though there are a growing number of coal-based power plants. Once the 1,360MW Rampal thermal power plant is operational it will require 4.5 million tonnes of coal annually – nearly equal to the current national consumption.

See more at - http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2016/09/06/indian-coal-used-power-plant-will-fall/

hindu coal is inferior !