Dhaka in the dark as power pact with Delhi nears

Though a final power purchase deal is going be signed with India during the September visit of its Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, many things still remained unclear to Bangladesh, reports UNB. Dhaka is yet to know about the tariff of the Indian electricity and the power plant from which it will be supplied to Bangladesh, officials said. They said even the transmission cost for the import of electricity is yet to be determined. "As a matter of fact, Bangladesh has no clear idea about the cost of electricity to be imported from India," said an official. Bangladesh power sector insiders and experts feel that such information are vital before signing any accord with India to import electricity, or else, it will not be a good commercial deal. Power Ministry officials said they have already written to their Indian counterparts seeking the information about such vital matters. According to them, only the appointment of a broker for striking a deal on different matters of Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) is at the final stage, and the service charge of that particular firm was finalised. The officials said things like electricity tariff, transmission charge and the power plant from which the power will be supplied to Bangladesh are to be determined by the Indian Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). But the CERC will not determine the matters until the installation of the transmission line is complete. A project of 107-kilometre 400kV transmission line is now being implemented by India and Bangladesh in a coordinated manner from Baharampur of India to Bheramara of Bangladesh. Of this, an 80-km transmission line will be installed on Indian side while a 27-km line on Bangladesh side. The Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) is implementing the 80-km transmission line. Similarly, the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) is implementing a project to build a substation and install a 27-km line at a cost of Tk 1047 crore. The substation alone needs Tk 850 crore. But other than the transmission line, nothing is clear to Bangladesh about the cost of different matters, the officials said. They said the power tariff will be fixed by the Indian CERC when installation of the power transmission line will be completed in December 2012. After construction of the transmission line, the CERC will determine from which power plant the Indian government will supply the power to Bangladesh. The transmission charge will also be fixed by the Indian CERC. The Power Ministry officials said Bangladesh has repeatedly been asking the Indian side to let it know about these matters. "But, so far the Indian side only informed that the promised 250 MW electricity will be supplied to Bangladesh from any power plant in eastern part of India," said an official. He said the power tariff will depend on many issues, including the distance of power plant from the Bangladesh border, the efficiency of the plant and also the location and time. According to him, Indian power tariff is dynamic and it is changing from time to time depending on the cost and other things. So, until 2012, it is not possible to learn about the tariff, he added. The official also noted that the tariff will not be less than Indian Rs 3 per unit as presently the tariff of eastern side's power plant is between Rs 2.90 and 2.97 per unit. People who follow the development said that Rs 0.20 might be added as transmission cost to the tariff. In addition, some other charges will be applicable for the cost. "And it's not clear how much the cost will reach finally," he said. Former PDB chairman ANM Rizwan said, "We're in the dark about the commercial deal." He said the import of power from India and building of transmission line between the two neighbours sound technically good. "But, if the deal is not commercially profitable, then it won't be good for Bangladesh," He said commercial aspect should be kept in mind before signing the agreement.