State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has said that Bangladesh and India have a huge opportunity to work together for the development of the power and energy sector.

“We want to import 9,000MW of electricity from the neighboring countries. The process to import hydro-electricity from Nepal and Bhutan has made a good advance,” Nasrul told Indian High Commission in Bangladesh Pranay Verma when he called on him at his office in the ministry.

He also informed the Indian envoy a deal is likely to be signed next month to import 40MW of hydro-power from Nepal.

He said that the import of 500MW of electricity from Nepal through Indian company GMR is almost final while import of renewable energy is also progressing. The import and export from Meghalaya, Tripura or Assam can be discussed.

He said the process of importing LNG and gas through H-Energy is almost final.

“We want to increase the connectivity with neighboring countries including India. We need Indian cooperation.”

Nasrul Hamid said that power trade will get momentum if there is a dedicated line from Nepal to Bangladesh. This will also benefit India.

He also said that it is essential to have the stakeholders’ meeting of both sides every month to increase the area of cooperation. “We can also work together on bio-fuel.”

The state minister observed that demand for LPG is increasing. It should be considered actively as to how Bangladeshi private investors can work in India in these sectors.

The high commissioner said that India’s cooperation with Bangladesh in the power and energy sector is growing.

Import of hydropower from Nepal to Bangladesh is ongoing, he said, adding India is also importing about 600MW of electricity from Nepal.

The issues on high voltage transmission lines, renewable energy, import-export of electricity, R-LNG, fuel capacity enhancement, energy efficiency, and future regional connectivity came up for discussion in the meeting.

Source: DhakaTribune