Skip to main content

Electricity sharing opens up new window for India’s eastern neighbourhood engagement

By Sufian Asif*

Today, challenges like climate change, pandemics, energy reliance, economic crisis, and many more are concerning us. No nation can overcome these obstacles without the assistance and collaboration of other nations. Most importantly, many of these problems have international repercussions. South Asia is facing much more difficulty when compared to other regions. In South Asia, we have some regional organizations, but they are ineffective.
The time has come to revive regional organizations such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN), a sub-regional organization under South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which has gathered some momentum in recent years.
All four nations of this sub-region are facing an energy crisis due to the Russia-Ukraine war. 
There cannot be a better way with sub-regional energy trade involving Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and Bhutan; which would be a win-win for all countries concerned.

Energy trade between Bangladesh and Nepal via Indian territory

The rapid growth of electricity demand in developing nations and the emergence of digital technologies has created increased opportunities for international electricity trade. BBIN-sub-regional energy integration, by having new transmission lines, can facilitate energy trade among these countries.
Following this, India-Bangladesh-Nepal could consider trilateral trade of electricity where Nepal could export its surplus electricity to Bangladesh to meet its deficit in electricity via Indian territory.
In early 2022, Dhaka proposed power trade between Nepal and Bangladesh in a way that suits the interest of both countries. No doubt that the proposal made perfect sense. The remarks by Bangladesh come at a time when India, which lies between the two countries, has expressed its eagerness to promote sub-regional cooperation on energy with Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
The proposal indicates a good example of regional energy cooperation between Bangladesh and Nepal in partnership with India where the latter's transmission system needs to be used.
In August 2022, Nepal and Bangladesh have jointly requested India to use its land for inter-country electricity transportation using the Indian infrastructure. Initially 50 megawatts of electricity will be transported via India.
Officials and experts say if India gives access to its transmission infrastructure, bilateral power trade between Nepal and Bangladesh is compatible with the needs of both countries. However, the proposal needs further scrutiny to better understand the nature of energy cooperation between Bangladesh and Nepal and the level of partnership with India in this regard.

Prospects of energy trade between Nepal and Bangladesh

Bangladesh's connectivity with the regional countries, especially with Nepal, Bhutan, and India is developing. Prospects of energy trade among these countries are also growing in this regard. Any energy generated by Nepal that is not consumed there can be consumed by Bangladesh or others.
The seasonal demand for electrical energy among countries in the BBIN region influences the amount of energy that can be traded. Because the electricity trade will predominantly involve the export of hydroelectric energy, the seasonal demand for electricity in Bhutan and Nepal plays a critical role in determining the feasibility of trade.
In the monsoon season, there is ample energy available from hydroelectric resources in Bhutan and Nepal which can be sold to India and Bangladesh. This seasonal variation in the need for electricity in Bangladesh offers an opportunity for Bhutan and Nepal, where electricity generation peaks during the monsoon season, because of water availability.
The fact is that, in Bangladesh, the demand during the daytime in summer is high due to cooling needs. These demand patterns throughout the day suggest opportunities for Nepal to flatten the pattern of energy production throughout the day relative to the pattern of their internal demand by selling electricity to Bangladesh, particularly during the summer months when the demand in Nepal is low and the demand in Bangladesh is high.
Importing this surplus electricity would boost Nepal's economic fortunes as well as Bangladesh’s summer demand.

Bangladesh-Nepal-India trilateral relation

India is considering Nepalese and Bangladesh proposals to allow Kathmandu to sell electricity to Dhaka via Indian territory and Indian infrastructure which would deepen sub-regional cooperation in a big way. Officials say a meeting between Nepali and Indian officials led by energy secretaries of the countries will finalize the matter. The meeting is scheduled to be held in the third week of February in New Delhi.
India offers the opportunity to interconnect the Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal electricity supply industries. The possibility of using Indian power infrastructure for electricity trade between Nepal and Bangladesh is another facet of India's neighborhood engagement. These bonds of support, trade, and economic opportunities should bind the countries, with India as a critical player.
Acting in unison would be in the enlightened self-interest of each country in South Asia. This approach makes India a reliable partner. The power trade between Nepal and Bangladesh also reflects active role of a silent organization BBIN. Nepal will gain from the sale, and Bangladesh will benefit from access to electricity.
Besides opening the opportunity for bilateral trade between Nepal and Bangladesh, a new opportunity for sub-regional energy trade among BBIN countries is also emerging, with India itself pushing for it. For this, transmission line connectivity alone will not be enough.
There is a need for harmonized rules and regulations among the participating countries and there should be a multilateral agreement on details including the wheeling charge of electricity among the participating countries.
It is hoped that Nepal and Bangladesh will widen collaboration in the power sector and include partner nations to solve the energy interdependency in South Asia.
---
*Independent researcher and freelance columnist, Dhaka

Comments

Anonymous said…
He didn't write 5 petitions. He wrote 6 petition. In 1920 On the advice of Gandhi he wrote his last petition & proof of it can be found in the letter wrote by gandhi to narayan sawarkar.In that he also adviced the same so that he can be seen as a political prisioner.

So stop giving false information to general public.

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.