The Government of India (GoI) and the People’s Republic of Bangladesh (GoB), by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) made on January 11, 2010 had, inter-alia, agreed for power trading between Bangladesh and India at a mutually agreed price and procedure. NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN) was designated as “Nodal Agency” by Ministry of Power, GoI for cross border trading of power with Bangladesh from Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL). Initially agreement was signed among the parties namely – TSECL, NVVN and BPDB (Bangladesh Power Development Board) for a quantum of 100 MW of power in March 2016 which was subsequently extended to 160 MW. This agreement was expired on March 16 this year.
In the 19th Joint Working Group/ Joint Steering Committee meetings on Indo-Bangladesh Co-operation in Power Sector between Bangladesh and India held on January 23 this year at Dhaka, Bangladesh, it was decided that “the contract may be extended provided the tariff, terms & conditions, tenure and quantum of power are acceptable to both the parties”. Accordingly, under the guidance of Jishnu Dev Varma, Deputy Chief Minister of Tripura; Kiran Gitte, IAS, the then Secretary (Power) and Dr. M. S. Kele, Managing Director, TSECL negotiated with the Bangladesh counterpart and finalize the modified terms & conditions of the agreement for a period of another five years with effect from March 17 to March16, 2026 after four meetings among the stakeholders. Dr. M. S. Kele, MD, TSECL and Praveen Saxena, CEO, NVVN represented India and Secretary (Power), of Bangladesh government and Director, BPDB represented Bangladesh and signed this tripartite supplementary agreement on Thursday in Bangladesh.
As per the modified terms & conditions of the agreement, TSECL will supply 160 MW+20% (i.e. maximum 192 MW) to Bangladesh instead of earlier 160MW. The tariff for this supply for the 1st Contract year shall be INR6.27/kWh and trading margin to NVVN will be of Ps 01/kWh w.e.f March 17 this year with fixed year on year escalation of 2% per year. This Supplementary Agreement shall be the integral part of the earlier Power Sale Agreement which was executed on 18th March 2016. The agreement can further be extended on mutually agreed terms and conditions in future.
This agreement is not only a unique precedent of Indo-Bangla friendship but also a part of celebrations to mark the platinum jubilee of the India’s independence ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and Bangladesh’s golden jubilee of independence ‘Suborno Joyonti’.
