Unique Meghnaghat Power Limited (UMPL), a subsidiary of Unique Hotel and Resorts Limited has secured the first installment of the largest finance for any independent power project in the country in the past few years.
The company secured the first installment of 360 million US dollars within a week after the financial close for the $463 million long-term project financing from foreign lenders recently, said a press release on Saturday.

Out of $360 million, Standard Chartered Bangladesh-backed lenders disbursed $240.24 million, while the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), German Investment Corporation Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) jointly managed $119.76 million.
This is particularly remarkable given that it has been achieved amid a stressed foreign situation in Bangladesh and financial volatility in the global market due to the post-coronavirus pandemic recovery and global political turmoil.
The debt portion is being financed through

a multi-sourced financing package, including an export credit agency-covered tranche from Standard Chartered Bank with coverage from Swiss Export Risk Insurance.
UMPL Managing Director Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat said that the syndicate financing manifests the confidence of leading global development financing institutions and banks in the economic development of Bangladesh.

"The financing closing of the $463 million foreign loan has opened avenues for future investment in Bangladesh for a similar set of foreign lenders," he said.
He also mentioned that UMPL has implemented the project with the most efficient gas turbine in South Asia, for example, the GE 9HA, which has the highest efficiency of more than 62% under site conditions.
“In times of natural gas scarcity, the commercial operation of the project will ensure the optimum utilisation of gas. This financing will elevate the status of the project to that of a world-class infrastructure project, providing cleaner, more reliable, and affordable electricity to the people of Bangladesh," he also said.

UMPL Chief Financial Officer, Anupam Hayat, said the company is very pleased to announce the financial close and first disbursement of the foreign loan.
"Given the impacts of the COVID pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, achieving the financial close was very challenging," he said.