Reliance sells 49pc stakes to Japan’s Jera
Just two days after signing deals with the government to build a 750MW power plant in Meghnaghat, India’s Reliance Power has sold 49 percent of the project’s stakes to a Japanese company.
For the gas-fired plant, the joint venture of Reliance and Japan’s major electricity producer Jera will spend $750 million, the largest foreign direct investment in Bangladesh’s power sector.
The plant will be built in 36 months, according to Reliance Power, India’s leading private sector power generator with an operating portfolio of 5,945 megawatts.
The generated electricity will be sold to Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) under a long-term purchase agreement.
On September 2, Reliance Bangladesh LNG and Power, a subsidiary of Reliance Power, inked an implementation deal with the power division and a power purchase agreement with BPDB and a gas supply agreement with Titas Gas.
This joint venture project will give a tremendous boost to the economic and industrial growth of Bangladesh, Anil Ambani, chairman of Reliance Group of Companies, said in a statement.
It will enhance the energy security of the country with clean, green and reliable LNG-based power, he said.
“We are excited to be part of the growth story of Bangladesh in partnership with JERA.”
Satoshi Onoda, president of JERA, said: “Together with Reliance Power, a leading private power company in India, JERA will realise a stable power supply and contribute to sustainable economic growth in Bangladesh.”
Reliance Power will relocate one module of world-class equipment procured from internationally reputed original equipment manufacturers for its combined cycle power project at Samalkot in Andhra Pradesh for the first phase of the Bangladesh project.
JERA owns or has domestic investments in 26 power projects with 67-gigawatt of generating capacity and nearly 10GW of generating capacity overseas (including projects under development).
Earlier in May, JERA signed a preliminary agreement with Summit Corporation to initiate an energy infrastructure project at Matarbari in Cox’s Bazar involving an investment of more than $500 million.
The project will provide impetus to Bangladesh’s trade by developing various terminals for cargo and primary fuel in Matarbari and is expected to be functional within two years of signing the final agreement between Summit, JERA and the government of Bangladesh.
The project will have a capacity to handle 20 million tonnes of bulk cargo a year.
