The country's largest power producer NTPC would commence work on its 1,320 MW thermal project at Bangladesh in the next six months, a top company official today said.
"We might start work on the project in Khulna (Bangladesh) in the next six months," CMD NTPC Arup Roy Choudhury told reporters at an AIMA event here. NTPC would be setting up this project at Khulna in Bangladesh at an estimated investment of Rs 8,000 crore.NTPC would be executing this project in joint venture with the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). It would also execute another similar capacity project at Chittagong, a move aimed at mitigating the power shortages in the neighbouring nation.The coal-fired power plants are likely to be installed on a 50:50 equity basis to be run on imported coal and operated by NTPC. The project would be operational in four years from the date of commencement of construction."Sourcing the coal is there responsibility...they will have to import it," Choudhury said. NTPC will also provide training and development to human
resources of BPDB for productivity enhancement and efficiency of their existing power stations.Meanwhile, NTPC's power trading arm NTPC Vidyut Vypar Nigam would export 250 MW of power to Bangladesh, from the company's 15% unallocated quota.
The transmission lines between India and Bangladesh are being set up under a pact signed between PowerGrid Corporation of India and BPDB, last year.The interconnection between India and Bangladesh is being established through a 500-MW HVDC (high voltage direct current) link between India's eastern region and the western grid of Bangladesh. 
