Palatana (Tripura), Nov. 3 : Union Minister of State for Power and Commerce Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said that he would take up with the Bangladesh government the grant of transit permission for consignments for the 726.6 MW gas-based power project, from Haldia port in Kolkata to the project site here via Ashuganj in Bangladesh and Akhura Land Custom Station on the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura.

Ramesh, however, told The Hindu at the project site that he was not hopeful of Bangladesh giving consent. He said Dhaka said ‘no’ to an earlier proposal.

Ramesh said while transit through Bangladesh could be a bonus for the project, an alternative logistics route from Kolkata port via Badarpur in Assam to Palatana has been finalised for the Rs. 3,600-crore power project.

He announced that though delayed by three years since the foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on October 29, 2005, this third largest power project in the north-east was now targeted to be fully commissioned by April, 2012.

The power project is being set up at Palatana, 60 kilometers from Agartala by the ONGC-Tripura Power Company (OTPC) Private Limited.

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), which has 50 per cent stake in the company, will supply three million cubic meters of gas every day for generation of power in this project.

The plant would source its fuel requirements from the ONGC’s gas fields located within 30-40 km from the plant site.

The Mumbai-based financial institution IL& FS has a stake of 26 per cent while the Tripura government has picked up 0.5 per cent stake in the OTPC.

Accompanied by Tripura Power Minister Manik Dey, the Union Minister inaugurated site offices of OTPC and the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) at Udaipur. Mr. Ramesh said that Tripura would get 200 MW, while Assam would get 245 MW from the plant.

Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on three sides and the only land route access to the state from within India is through Assam. (ANI)