Nov. 26 – India and Bangladesh will sign an agreement for exchanging electricity in off-peak hours to encourage bilateral investment in the power industry.
The deal will be signed during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India next month and will involve connecting the transmission systems of the two countries at an estimated cost of US$200 million reports The Times of India.
Both countries are considering exchanging electricity for maybe 17 hours a day with the highest volume of electricity exchanged at 250 mw at the beginning before it expands to 1,000 mw. The agreement will help solve Bangladesh’s electricity shortages during peak-hours. Moreover, it will provide Indian investors more opportunities to do business in the country. Indian company Tata was previously interested to build power plants in Bangladesh with natural gas supplied from Bangladesh’s Bibiyana fields.
The power deal will augment supply coming from the pending Saarc electricity grid. India is also struggling with its own power shortages and is negotiating to increase power imports from Bhutan. It is also in talks for energy deals with Sri Lanka and Nepal.
