Home ›› 03 May 2023 ›› Front
Bangladesh wants to import fuel oil from India through the private sector to meet the growing domestic demand.
It also wants to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) through pipelines under state arrangement.
Besides, the two countries are looking for ways to increase the ongoing cooperation in the power sector.
In this regard, the 21st meeting of the Bangladesh-India Joint Working Group (JWG) and Joint Steering Committee (JSC) on cooperation in the power sector will be held in Khulna today.
Bangladesh’s Power Division Secretary Md Habibur Rahman and Shri Alok Kumar, secretary of the Ministry of Power in India, will lead their respective teams at the meeting.
A source in the Power Division told The Business Post the JWG and JSC meeting is a follow-up to State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid’s India visit in January 2023. During the visit, he met India’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep S Puri as well as Power Minister RK Singh.
According to sources, Bangladesh is seeking to import large quantities of fuel from India through public and private initiatives. The Bangladesh-India Friendship Pipeline from Assam’s Numaligarh Refinery to Dinajpur’s Parbatipur railhead depot, which was the first phase of the initiatives, was inaugurated by the prime ministers of the two countries in March this year under state management.
Recently, the Bangladesh government made a policy to allow the private sector to import fuel oil. As a result, traders got the opportunity to import and market fuel oil. However, experts have opposed this due to the concern over marketing mismanagement and business monopoly.
Sources in the power, energy and mineral resources ministry said the government is actively looking to import fuel oil from India through the private sector. Apart from this, the process of establishing a land-based LNG pipeline from India to Khulna is underway.
Indian company H-Energy will install the pipeline. The progress in this regard will be discussed in today’s meeting, said Power Division sources.
During his 2023 India visit, Nasrul told journalists, “We are going to open up the energy market in our country and involve the private sector in importing and selling fuel oil at the retail level.”
“India has been following the open market energy policy for a long time and we want to know their experience. They [Indian ministers] assured us of sharing their knowledge with us.”
Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) said Bangladesh is currently importing 1,160MW electricity through Tripura and Bheramara substation. Besides, 660MW electricity started coming from Adani Group in March this year while another 660MW is expected to come next month.
There is a fierce debate in the country over the purchase of electricity from Adani Group at high prices. Adani Group has demanded $400 per tonne for low-grade coal imported from their Carmichael coal mine in Australia. BPDB has strongly objected to this, but the price has not been finalised yet.
The Adani Group issue will reportedly not be discussed during today’s meeting as it is a private sector matter, said the Power Division. The meeting will discuss the Rampal plant in Bagerhat, a joint venture of Bangladesh and India.
The Rampal plant recently stopped electricity generation temporarily after starting production in December last year due to coal shortages and technical problems. It was built by Bharat Heavy Electricals.
The Power Division said the Rampal plant has various mechanical problems and those will be discussed in the meeting.
Sources said India wants to install a 765KV transmission line from Katihar in Bihar to Parbatipur in Dinajpur to Assam and it is likely to be discussed in the meeting.
The meeting will also discuss the progress in importing hydropower, produced in Nepal by GMR, to Bangladesh through India as well as the joint investment of Bangladesh, India, and Bhutan in the Bhutanese hydropower project.
