Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the 57th convention Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh in Chittagong, Hasina asserted that the plant will not harm the mangrove forest.
The protesters were "shedding tears" for the Royal Bengal Tigers, ignoring the "benefit to the people", she was quoted as saying by the bdnews24.Com.
"Visit Rampal and see how far it is from the Sundarbans. I would advise the protesters to march from Rampal to Sundarbans then they will get an idea," she said.
Environmentalists say the proposed plant would be a significant threat to the Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage site. But the government maintains that it would not harm the Sundarbans, partly owned by India.
Also Read
On Thursday, police in Dhaka lobbed tear-gas shells, fired rubber-bullets and used water-cannons to disperse protesters observing a half-day shutdown against government plans to build the power plant project.
Main opposition party outside parliament Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP) and several leftist organisations and environmental groups had extended their support to the protesters who staged street marches in Dhaka on Thursday.
The National Committee in October 2016 sent a letter to the Indian premier through the Indian High Commission in Dhaka seeking his intervention to scrap the project.
Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt.) Limited (BIFPCL), a joint venture enterprise, inked the deal with state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), which was selected under an open international tender for constructing the "ultra-super critical thermal plant" at Rampal.
India's Exim Bank finances the USD 1.49 billion project, scheduled to launch generating power in 2019.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content