State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid announced plans to import 9,000 megawatts of electricity from neighboring countries, while the Minister of State for Bangladesh Prannoy Verma said this during a courtesy meeting with the secretariat on Monday.
The Minister of State welcomed the High Commissioner and said, ‘Bangladesh and India have a wide opportunity to work together to develop the power and energy sector. We want to import 9,000 megawatts of electricity from neighboring countries. The process of importing hydropower from Nepal and Bhutan has progressed. The agreement to import 40 megawatts of hydropower from Nepal is likely to be signed next month. The issue of importing 500 MW of hydropower through GMR is almost final. The issue of importing electricity from renewable energy is also up.’
Nasrul Hamid also said, ‘The issue of import and export of electricity from Meghalaya, Tripura or Assam may be discussed. The process of importing LNG/Gas through H-energy is almost final. We want to increase connectivity with neighboring countries including India. In this case, India needs cooperation. If there is a dedicated line from Nepal, power trade will be speeded up. India will also benefit from this.’
Knowing that it is essential to hold meetings of both parties every month to increase the field of cooperation, the minister said, ‘We can work together with air fuel. The demand of LPG is increasing, how private investors in Bangladesh can work in India in these sectors can also be considered active.’
The Indian High Commissioner, who is appointed by Dhaka, said, ‘India's cooperation with Bangladesh is increasing and the import of hydropower from Nepal to Bangladesh is ongoing. India also imports about 600 megawatts of electricity from Nepal.’
At this time, there was a lively discussion about high voltage transmission lines, renewable fuel, electricity import-export, R-LNG, fuel capacity increase, fuel efficiency, future regional connectivity etc.
Earlier, the Chinese Ambassador Etao andn had a courtesy call on the Minister of State in his office, and they discussed various issues related to mutual interests.
The Chinese ambassador said that China's cooperation with Bangladesh is going on for a long time. It was necessary to sit together for the field of cooperation, which will be more prosperous, stronger and better in the next five years.
This is the same as Chinese, which is the project, setting up lithium battery factories, setting up semi-conductor factories, electric vehicles, battery storage system, smart meter, solar power project, electricity project, waste to electricity, gas extraction etc.
State Minister Nasrul Hamid said, ‘China, Bangladesh's tested friend. Chinese companies are making an important contribution to the expansion of the power and energy sector. We want to see China on our side in a more big way. In the next five years, 30 billion dollars in the power and energy sector.’ He said that the sector has been given the sector of the power and energy sector investment sector, saying that a special party is in the field of Binnithog.
