Bangladesh signs deal for Indian-run company to build $1.5 billion coal-fired power plant

DHAKA, Bangladesh - Bangladesh has signed a deal with an Indian state-run company to build a $1.5-billion coal-fired power plant to help ease a severe shortage.

The plant is expected to open in 2016 and produce daily 1,320 megawatts of electricity.

Bangladesh's Power Development Board chairman Alamgir Kabir and Arup Roy Choudhury of India's National Thermal Power Corp. signed the agreement in Dhaka on Sunday.

Bangladesh relies on decades-old gas-fired plants. A daily shortfall of about 2,000 megawatts is blamed for hampering the economy.

With about 3.3 billion tons of coal reserves, the country of 150 million people is looking into options for coal-fired power plants.

The government says the economy is expected to grow by more than 6 per cent this year.