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ADB signs 120 mln USD loan for increased Bangladesh-India power connectivity

Xinhua, November 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Bangladeshi government have signed an agreement for 120 million U.S. dollars in loans to help finance increased transmission capacity of a cross-border electricity link between India and Bangladesh.

Mohammad Mejbahuddin, secretary of Bangladesh's Economic Relations Division (ERD), and Kazuhiko Higuchi, country director for ADB's Bangladesh Resident Mission, signed the pact on behalf of their respective sides at a ceremony in Dhaka.

The interconnection project is part of efforts under the South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Program to promote regional prosperity and improve economic opportunities through strengthened cross-border links in trade, power, road and rail networks.

Its members are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Along with ADB's loan assistance, the government of Bangladesh will provide financing of 63.2 million U.S. dollars. The project is expected to be completed in June 2018.

The ADB's loan to Bangladesh, approved in ADB headquarters in Manila on Thursday, will double the capacity of the existing interconnection system which links the power grid of western Bangladesh at Bheramara and the grid of eastern India at Bharampur, said the Manila- based lender in a statement. Endit