Electricity to Bangladesh at the same price as India

In the first week of February, the Authority has submitted a proposal to the Power Development Board of Bangladesh with a rate of selling electricity equal to India's tariff. "The authority has submitted a proposal to sell electricity at 6.7 cents per unit (8 rupees 91 paisa according to Tuesday's exchange rate), the price of electricity purchase and sale will be finalized in a mutual agreement between the two countries," said the source, "a team including the chief executive officer of the authority is going to Bangladesh for mutual agreement. "

The executive director of the authority, Kulman Ghising, is going to Bangladesh on Wednesday to discuss the price. "It is not possible to be sure about the price now," Ghising said. "The proposal we have made will be discussed with Bangladesh this week. Only then will the formal way of electricity sales with Bangladesh be opened. The Authority will get the price for the electricity sale at the Muzaffarpur point in India. This rate is proposed for the period from June 15 to November 15. The contract period will be 5 years. The authority has submitted a proposal that Bangladesh will bear the fee and leakage of about 3 percent to NTPC Electricity Trading Corporation (NVNN). Deputy Executive Director of the Authority, Pradeep Kumar Thike, said that the proposal submitted to Bangladesh with tariff rates is under process. "We have submitted the proposal as requested by Bangladesh within February 4," he said. It will be known after the finalization of the proposal.'

The authority said that after the tariff rate is agreed upon, the 40 megawatt electricity purchase and sale will be formally signed. The Economic Affairs Committee of the Bangladesh Council of Ministers approved the proposal to purchase 40 MW of electricity from Nepal on December 20. Accordingly, Bangladesh had sent a letter to Nepal to send a proposal for sale by prioritizing the price. Power trading with Bangladesh will be done through India's power trading company NTPC Vidyut Vyar Nigam.

Nepal-Bangladesh 40 MW electricity trade agreement is in the final stage and energy experts of Bangladesh have said that caution should be taken in tariffs and if the agreement is close to 10 taka, electricity will be expensive. Energy expert Professor Ijaz Hussain stated in Bangladesh's national daily newspaper Daily Observer that electricity tariff per unit will be higher if it reaches close to 10 taka apart from transmission cost.

We are ready to buy hydropower from Nepal, which can be the cheapest source of electricity. But this price will be higher if the tariff gets closer to 10 taka (excluding transmission cost),” Hussain told the Daily Observer. Energy experts of Bangladesh have said that more caution should be taken as the first agreement in every future project can be the benchmark for tariff negotiations, saying that electricity imports from Nepal can be increased in the future. In the

proposal, Nepal has also set the condition of giving exemption to the bill if the Bangladeshi entity pays soon. Bangladesh is expected to pay the bill within 45 days of issuing it, the authority said. According to the Daily Observer, the proposal also mentions that the buyer will get a certain discount on the tariff if the payment is made within seven days of the bill being issued.

Bangladesh has announced that it will import electricity from India's Bahrampur-Veramara transmission line. Bangladesh will import electricity from Nepal through the Indian company NTPC Electricity Trading Corporation as the service provider. Even now, the Indian company NTPC Electricity Trading Corporation is selling electricity to the Bangladesh Power Development Board. Therefore, Nepal's electricity trade will also be with Bangladesh through India's power trading company NTPC Electricity Trade Corporation, the authority said.

The government has set a target of generating more than 28,000 megawatts of electricity in the next 12 years. It aims to export 13,000 MW domestic consumption, 10,000 MW to India and 5,000 MW to Bangladesh. Recently, a long-term electricity trade agreement has been signed with India to export 10,000 megawatts of electricity in 10 years. Bangladesh wants to construct Sunkoshi third project of 683 MW capacity in Nepal and take its electricity as well. In the secretary-level meeting of Nepal-Bangladesh held in the first week of May, it was agreed that Nepal-Bangladesh will build this project together.

Indian company GMR has said that it will also sell 500 MW of electricity produced from 900 MW of Upper Karnali to Bangladesh. Last August, the Nepal-Bangladesh secretary-level meeting agreed to take 50 megawatts of electricity from Nepal in the first phase. At that time, there was an agreement between Nepal Electricity Authority, Bangladesh Power Development Board, NTPC Electricity Trading Corporation to request India for a tripartite electricity purchase and sale agreement for the export of electricity to the high voltage direct current structure in Veramara, Bangladesh. According to the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, the draft for the tripartite agreement has been agreed upon. But the tripartite agreement has not been signed yet.