Blackstone shows interest to invest in power and solar plant in Bangladesh

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Shanchita Shitu
Published : 12:20, Apr 25, 2019 | Updated : 14:24, Apr 26, 2019

BlackstoneWorld renowned investment firm, Blackstone, has expressed an interest to invest in Bangladesh. The company recently proposed to establish a 600 megawatt gas based power plant in a joint initiative with a Bangladeshi company, confirmed a source from the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.
Blackstone says that the power plant will be established by their new company Zorro Limited and Rural Power Company Limited (RPCL). Once energy supply is assured, the plant may be elevated to 1300 megawatt plant.
Zorro is Blackstone’s new company and will work in energy plus renewables. The new entity will work in middle-east and one part of Africa.
Recently, Blackstone gave a letter to the power department expressing their interest. The proposal says that they want to establish the centre in Mirersarai or Boalkhali.
The letter further says that the company is interested after seeing Bangladesh’s steady growth in the last decade.
Blackstone is one of the richest companies in the world with assets worth $ 472 billion. Since 1996, they have invested around $16 billion in the gas sector.
At a meeting held on Jan 24 at the ministry of energy, the company placed their expression of interest. They also said that in addition to the 600 megawatt station, they are interested in a 100 megawatt solar power plant.
A power department official said, “Finance is a crucial matter in establishing a power plant and if a well-known company comes to invest in Bangladesh then the sector will be benefitted.”
MD of Power Cell, Mohammad Hossain, said, “The power sector is in a stable condition, many big companies are coming to invest and we are welcoming them after assessing if their involvement will bring us long term positive impact or not.”
“This proposal is solid but it has to be discussed at high levels of government.”

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