Agartala : Indian and Bangladeshi officials Monday finalised the various technicalities and mechanisms to supply 100 MW of power from Tripura to Bangladesh, officials said here.
“We have discussed and finalised various technical aspects in today’s (Monday’s) meeting,” Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) Executive Director Chowdhury Alamgir Hossain told reporters.
“While erecting new power transmission lines from western Tripura’s Surjyamaninagar power grid to Comilla (in eastern Bangladesh) power grid to supply the power, human habitations, forest and other vital installations would be avoided,” he said after the meeting.
“To take power from Tripura, a 24 km new transmission line would be erected on the Indian side and a 27 km one on the Bangladesh side. Initially, the Indian government would bear the cost of erecting transmission lines but subsequently the expenditure would be reimbursed by the PGCB.”
Officials and engineers of state-owned Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL), Central Electricity Authority, Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL), PGCB and Bangladesh Power Development Board participated in Monday’s meeting.
Hossain said the proposed power transmission line would be a dedicated transmission line for Bangladesh.
“It is technically feasible to carry power from northeast region to others parts of India via Bangladesh,” the PGCB official added.
TSECL director (technical) M.K.Chowdhury said the Indian government has already submitted a proposal to send power from the northeast region to others parts of India via Bangladesh. “No formal decision has been taken so far in this regard,” he added.
Earlier, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, said that “We have already told the Indian government that Tripura is ready to supply at least 100 MW of electricity to Bangladesh. The central government can now take the necessary steps to supply power to the neighbouring country.”
“During my visit to Dhaka in 2012, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her desire to import power from our state,” Sarkar had told reporters.
The chief minister said after the commissioning of two mega gas-based power projects this year, at least 200 MW power would be surplus in Tripura.
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation is commissioning its biggest ever commercial power project (726 MW) at Palatana in southern Tripura (60 km south of Agartala) while the state-run North East Electric Power Corporation is setting up a 104 MW power project at Monarchak in western Tripura (70 km south of Agartala) and only eight km from the India-Bangladesh border.
The power generation from the first unit (363 MW) of the Rs.9,000-crore Palatana power plant began December 2013 and the second unit (363 MW) is expected to start generation by next month.
The Palatana project is an example of cooperation between India and Bangladesh, which ensured the smooth passage of heavy project equipment and turbines to Palatana through its territory by road and waterways from Haldia port in West Bengal.
India had begun supply of 250 MW of power to Bangladesh last year after the government-run Bangladesh Power Development Board and India’s NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN), a subsidiary of NTPC, signed a deal Feb 28, 2012 to supply 250 MW of electricity, following an agreement signed during Hasina’s visit to New Delhi in January 2010.
To provide power to Bangladesh, a 400 KV switching station has been set up at Baharampur in West Bengal. The cross-border inter-connection has been established between Baharampur (India) and Bheramara (Bangladesh).