More power from India by 2017

Bangladesh will import another 500 megawatts of electricity from India by 2017 after the two countries deepened their power sector cooperation further, officials said yesterday. 

Bangladesh will get 100MW of electricity from Palatana power project in Tripura this year, the power, energy and mineral resources ministry said. 

The decision came after officials from the two countries took part at the ninth meeting of Bangladesh-India joint steering committee on cooperation on power in Dhaka.

Power Secretary Monowar Islam and his Indian counterpart PK Sinha led the respective sides at the meeting.

The officials discussed the issue of importing 500MW from India by enhancing the capacity of the existing Baharampur-Bheramara grid interconnection.

They also talked about the import of another 30-50MW of power from the market through the same transmission line. 

Bangladesh is currently importing around 500MW of power from Baharampur through Bheramara.

The officials also discussed the progress of setting up a new electricity network between Bangladesh and the Northeastern states of India. 

Once set up, India will use Bangladesh's soil to transmit 6,000MW of power from Assam to Bihar via Dinajpur.

A committee has already been formed to explore the feasibility of transmitting power from Rangia Raota in Assam to Borakpur in Bihar through Barapukuria of Dinajpur. 

The discussants also shed light on the development of the under-construction 1,320MW thermal power plant in Rampal. 

The steering committee expressed satisfaction over the progress, the ministry said in a statement.

Issues related to importing power from Nepal and Bhutan were also discussed. Indian companies showed their willingness to invest in Bangladesh's electricity sector.