Bangladesh okays plan to import 40 MW from Nepal

KATHMANDU: Bangladesh has formally decided to import 40 MW of electricity from Nepal.

The meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs held on Wednesday approved a proposal in principle to import power from Nepal, according to The Business Standard. Minister for Finance AHM Mustafa Kamal chaired the virtual meeting.

After a long discussion at political and bureaucratic levels among the countries, India finally agreed to allow Bangladesh to initially import 40 MW of electricity from Nepal through Indian transmission infrastructure, the Bangladeshi publication wrote, quoting official sources.

Bangladesh agreed to start the import of 40 MW of power from Nepal during a two-day meeting of the Joint Steering Committee and Joint Working Committee on Bangladesh-Nepal power and energy sector cooperation held in Bangladesh on May 14-15.

Bangladesh will import electricity through Baharampur-Bheramara transmission lines, which have enough capacity to import electricity from Nepal through Indian territory, according to The Business Standard.

Bangladesh has signed an agreement with the Indian company GMR to import 500 MW of electricity from Nepal.

GMR holds the license to develop the Upper Karnali Hydropower Project (900 MW). The project, however, has not gained momentum.