Tripura, Meghalaya want to export power to Dhaka

India's Tripura and Meghalaya have sought New Delhi's support to export their excess electricity to neighbouring Bangladesh.

The plea came at a two-day conference of 23 ministers of states for power, renewable energy and mines concluding yesterday in Guwahati, Assam, say diplomatic sources.

Tripura State Power Minister Manik Dey said Bangladesh was interested in purchasing 100 megawatts (MW) of power from the Palatana power plant while transmission lines would be constructed by December.

He asked the central government to allow Tripura State Electricity Corporation Ltd to sell the electricity.

The 726.6 MW gas-based power project belongs to ONGC Tripura Power Company Ltd, a joint venture of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), and the Tripura government.

Bangladesh as a goodwill gesture had allowed transporting through it for free the project's over dimension cargoes, meaning goods too big for standard containers.

President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the first 335 MW unit in June 2013 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi the second in December 2014.

Meghalaya Power Minister Clement R Marak said Meghalaya was looking to maximise power generation, especially during the monsoon, while Bangladesh had high demands.

He said developing hydropower projects in Meghalaya was not encouraging because the excess generation during the monsoon could not be transmitted out.

“This result in spillage of water meant for power generation, whereas neighbouring Bangladesh is in need of power...there are four power generation projects with a total installed capacity of 1,190 MW,” he said.