Due to adopting of new technology, the cost of building the Rooppur nuclear power plant will now be $13.5bn, said Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
He told this to reporters yesterday after a meeting with HN Spassky, deputy executive director of Russia’s state atomic energy corporation Rosatom, and Alexander A Nikolaev, the Russian ambassador in Dhaka, at the secretariat.
According to a revised proposal, the Bangladesh government will bear 10% of the cost of building 2,400MW plant which might take around eight to nine years to be built, the minister said.
The previous plan was to set up a 2,000MW plant at a cost of $12bn.
Muhith also told reporters that the Russian authorities want to sign the main contract in April next year along with two general contracts.
“Moreover, they have also proposed to complete building the infrastructure for the power plant before signing the contract,” he added.
“We will examine the Russian nuclear power project before giving them go ahead to start the main work of power plant...We will also sign a contract to supply fuel for the nuclear power plant.”
The Russian authorities are now readying manpower for the project; some of the manpower is already in Moscow now for training, he added.