Russia has asked Bangladesh to pay the interest on the loan given for the Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant. This interest is $ 630 million (about Rs 5,300 crore). Russian officials have given a deadline of September 15 to pay the interest. According to a Business Standard report, Russian officials wrote a letter to Bangladesh’s Economic Relations Division (ERD) on August 21. This letter has now reached local journalists. In this, ERD has been asked to pay the dues in US dollars or Chinese Yuan. They have asked to deposit it in the Shanghai branch of the Bank of China. After the coup of Sheikh Hasina, the responsibility of paying this money has come on the interim government. Earlier, Adani Group had also demanded $ 800 million (about Rs 6,700 crore) of electricity bill dues from Bangladesh. Russia gave loan at just 4% interest
According to the report, Russia had given a loan of 12.65 billion dollars (1.06 lakh crore rupees) to Bangladesh for the nuclear power plant. It is charging 4% interest on this. As per the conditions, in case of delay, Bangladesh may have to pay interest at the rate of 2.4% or more i.e. 6.4%. 15th September is Sunday. Banks will remain closed in China on the next two days i.e. 16th and 17th September. In such a situation, Bangladesh has time till 18th to deposit the interest on the loan. Bangladesh asked for time to repay the loan, Russia refused
An agreement was reached between Russia and Bangladesh regarding the loan in December 2015. In this, 90% of the loan was to be spent on the Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant. As per the terms of the agreement, Bangladesh will have to pay 189.66 million dollars to Russia in 2 installments every year for the next 30 years from March 2027. There is also a grace period of 10 years in this. Earlier in April, Bangladesh had sought a 2-year exemption from Russia in paying the loan. Bangladesh wanted to repay the loan from March 2029. Then Sheikh Hasina’s government cited many things including Corona, economic recession for the delay in payment. Bangladesh had also proposed that instead of taking a loan, Russia can invest in the country’s new project or in the stock market. Apart from this, Bangladesh had also proposed to Russia to buy goods from Bangladesh. However, in the new letter, Russia has made it clear that it has not accepted any proposal. Bangladesh will have to repay the principal of the loan from March 2027 itself. The first nuclear power plant is being built in Bangladesh According to the Bengali newspaper Daily Star, Bangladesh has been facing electricity problems for the last few decades. Fuel prices are increasing. Due to this, the production of electricity is becoming more expensive. To deal with this, Bangladesh started working on generating electricity from nuclear power. For this, an agreement was signed between Bangladesh and Russia in 2010, under which it was agreed to build the Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant on the banks of the Padma (Ganga) river, 160 km from Dhaka. Work on it finally began in 2017. It is being built by the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom. This plant with two units will generate 2,400 megawatts of electricity, which will be able to supply electricity to 1.5 crore homes. Rosatom had said in July this year that some Indian companies are also cooperating in this project. Then 85% of its work was completed. After the change of power in Bangladesh, the agency had said that the work will continue. Adani also demanded $ 800 million
The Daily Star’s September 8 report claimed that the Adani Group has demanded its dues from the Bangladesh Electricity Department (PDB) several times. The average monthly bill for power purchase from Adani Power Jharkhand Limited is $100 million while PDB has been able to pay an average of just $20 million. Bangladesh and Adani Power Jharkhand Limited (APJL) signed a 25-year power agreement in November 2017 under which Bangladesh will purchase 100% of the power generated from AJPL’s Godda plant. This plant meets 10% of Bangladesh’s power needs.
