100MW more electricity from India

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate supply of 100-megawatt power to Bangladesh from northeastern Indian state of Tripura's Palatana project on March 23.

The same day Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to provide 10 GB Internet bandwidth to India, Tripura Power and Communications Minister Manik Dey told reporters yesterday.

Bangladesh has allowed transit through its land overhead equipment from mainland India to the Palatana power project, a gesture which was highly appreciated by India. The move was reciprocated by India by agreeing to supply power to its neighbour from that plant.

Talking to the reporters in Agartala, capital city of Tripura, Manik Dey said there would not be any formal function to mark the occasion as the entire programme would be held through videoconferencing.

After the formal opening of international gateway of Internet, Tripura would be the third Indian state which is having such a gateway after Mumbai and Chennai. This will help all the northeastern states of India, he added.

Indian Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad laid the foundation stone of the project in Agartala on July 13, 2015 that aims at strengthening telecom services in the northeastern states.

Under the project, an international gateway for broadband connectivity will be set up at Agartala in which connectivity will be provided through Bangladesh under an agreement between India's Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company limited.

The cost of the project is Rs 19.1 crore and annual operational expenditure is around Rs 7.2 crore. The bandwidth of 10 GB can be extended up to 40 GB.

On the other side, the pricing of one unit of power was fixed at Rs 5.5 in a meeting between Tripura Power Minister Manik Dey and Bangladesh State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid on January 9 in Dhaka.

The state-owned Power Grid Corporation of India Limited erected 47km-long 400 kv double circuit transmission lines from Suryamaninagar power grid near Agartala to Comilla in Bangladesh.

The 726 MW gas-based thermal power project at Palatana in Gomati district of Tripura is run by ONGC Tripura Power Corporation (OTPC).