The government has taken an initiative to import another 340 MW of electricity from India by mid-2020. To this end a technical committee comprising Bangladesh and Indian experts are now working, power division official said. The electricity will come from Indian state of Tripura under G2G through Surjomoni-Cumilla north link. Currently Bangladesh is importing 160 megawatts of electricity from India through the link.
Per unit electricity generation cost for Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) is Tk 6.15, whereas the cost of imported power from India is below TK 6 on an average. An official said the Joint Working Committee and the Joint Steering Committee on the power sector will sit in a two-day meeting on September 26-25 to examine the scope and review the ongoing agenda on power sector cooperation between Bangladesh and India. At that time Bangladesh will review the agenda of importing another 340 MW of electricity from Tripura.
“The proposed meeting will be held either in Dhaka or Cox's Bazar. The technical committee will place the report before the secretary- level committee to take its decision in this regard," a Power Division official said.The meeting will discuss the existing cooperation in power sector between the two countries, including exporting power from Bangladesh to India in future, power import through interconnection from Tripura to Bheramara, the progress of importing 250 megawatt (mw) electricity through interconnection at Bheramara under a long-term agreement.
They also discussed about waving all types of CD, tax and VAT on the import of power from India. It will also discuss the progress of the construction work of Maitree Super Tarmal Power Project at Rampal, the official said.In view of the government’s firm conviction to turn Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021 and a developed one by 2041, a good number of power plants are currently under construction to achieve 24,000 megawatts (MW), 40,000MW and 60,000MW power capacity by 2021, 2030 and 2041 respectively.
The government had taken up a plan to import 9,000MW electricity by 2041 through cross-border and regional trade. Import of 1,160MW electricity from regional grids from India has started. A plan has also been taken to further import 3,500MW power by 2021 through regional cooperation. The government has already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Nepal too for the import of hydro power.