Neighbourhood First

The neighbourhood on Friday witnessed a landmark development in the area of regional co-operation with the inauguration of power flow from Nepal to Bangladesh through India. This is a historic occasion, one which also marked the first trilateral power transaction that was carried out through the Indian power grid. It is very important to note that India took the initiative for the two neighbours to benefit mutually in the power transaction by offering to facilitate this from Nepal to Bangladesh through the Indian grid with an export of up to 40 MW of power. A tripartite power sales agreement between NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam, the Nepal Electricity Authority, and the Bangladesh Power Development Board was signed back in October this year in Kathmandu. This is also a major step towards creating and strengthening sub-regional cooperation, including in the energy sector, which in turn is expected to lead to increased interlinkages between the economies of the three countries for the mutual benefit of all stakeholders. The development also means a lot for India and Bangladesh, especially in the backdrop of political disturbances that the latter country has been experiencing in the five months or so. That the present temporary regime in Dhaka has come forward to be part of this tripartite development in itself speaks volumes about good sense prevailing in the Bangladesh capital. Bangladesh is one of the world’s most energy-poor countries, with a large portion of the population without access to electricity. One of the reasons behind this is that the country’s power generation capacity is often only partially used. Bangladesh, in fact, imports a huge quantity of power from a number of sources in India, among which the Palatana power project in Tripura is one of the most significant. Nepal, on the other hand, is a power-surplus country, and India currently imports about 450 MW from Nepal. There is a proposal to increase this by 1,200 MW in the next couple of years. Nepal and India had only recently signed a crucial agreement, under which the former will sell 10,000 MW of electricity over the next 10 years to its southern neighbour. Nepal, in fact, is fast emerging as a power centre in South Asia, and the country’s power-increasing export could lead to a significant improvement in its per capita income and GDP.