UNB, Dhaka :Bureaucrats here are in a big dilemma how to entertain the billion-dollar investment proposals in power and energy sector from two Indian conglomerates which signed MoUs with the government during Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s Dhaka visit in early June this year, according to official sources.The Reliance Group, controlled by Anil Ambani, signed an initial deal for setting up 3,000-MW LNG-based power station and a floating storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU) for LNG import.The Ambani Group signed an initial agreement for setting up a 1,600-MW ultra-super critical coal-based power plant at Moheshkhali Island, or some other suitable location in Bangladesh.The combined value of the deals is $5.5 billion, with Reliance Group’ s $3 billion investment slated to become the largest one-off foreign direct investment in Bangladesh.When the two Indian giants came up with their detailed investment proposals three month later, it was found to be the biggest challenge for the bureaucrats as never have had experience to deal with such gigantic investment proposal from private sector, according to the sources.On the other hand, the policymakers, who never thought of entertaining such a big investment proposal from the neighbouring country’s private investors, also found themselves in a real test of nerve.The sources said, the Power Division which signed the deals on behalf of the government has now started working on the two proposals. “We’ ve already held two high-profile meetings with relevant agencies under the Power and Energy Ministry to discuss the offers of the two Indian firms. But we couldn’t reach a conclusion,” a Power Division official told UNB.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the issue is highly sensitive, informed that the Reliance Group proposal is very critical as it involves lots of issues.Explaining the matter, he said, the Reliance Group wants to set up a FSRU in Maheshkhali area of Chittagong to import LNG for its 3000 MW power plant.It plans to inject 500 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) to the national gas grid. Then it wants to receive the gas from the Meghnaghat point where it prefers setting up its 3000 MW power plant.But the country’s existing infrastructure, according to the official, is not ready to receive this additional 500 mmcfd gas into its network and release it to the Meghnaghat point. Under the process, some gas could be diverted to Chittagong instead of Dhaka, the official added.In that case, some additional infrastructures have to be built by the government for which a huge amount of investment will be required to facilitate Reliance’s $3 billion investment, he said.
