The government has finalised the import of 40 MW of hydropower from Nepal. Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) plans to purchase electricity worth Tk 650 crore from the country in the next five years. 

Electricity worth approximately Tk 130 crore will be purchased from Nepal every year. BPDB will purchase this electricity through a direct purchase method. The electricity price proposal was finalised in the BPDB board meeting last April. 

The Power Division will place this proposal of electricity purchase to the cabinet committee on public procurement tomorrow (Tuesday).

While the import of electricity from Nepal is gaining  momentum, a huge amount of electricity bill from India has become overdue. Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL) MD Debashish Sarkar was quoted by the Indian media last May as saying that TSECL has already reduced power supply to Bangladesh due to outstanding bills. 

Bangladesh is importing this electricity under the G2G agreement with the Indian government. 

According to a letter from the Power division, till January of this year, the bill of electricity import from India under the JTUG contract was over Tk 1,900 crore. And in Jharkhand, the electricity bill purchased from the Adani Group's power plant is Tk 4,140 crore. 

Meanwhile, on May 29, Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali said that the Bangladesh government  will take the initiative to pay the Adani Group dues. He said this after a meeting with Adani Group Director Pranab Vinod Adani  at  the  secretariat office of the finance minister.

Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali said steps are being taken to pay the dues. Despite the discussion, there is no pressure from Adani regarding the dues.

Vinod Adani said that Bangladesh has a lot of potential. So new investment is under consideration. Sources in the Finance Division said that the proposal to sell electricity from Adani Group's Jharkhand solar power plant to Bangladesh was also submitted to the finance minister.

According to the sources in the Power Division, the price of electricity imported from Nepal has been fixed at 6.40 US cents per kilowatt hour. And NVVN (NTPC Vidyut Vapar Nigam) trading margin for transmission line usage is INR 595 (per KW) decimal zero. A transaction charge will be added to this. Although the transmission charge per kilowatt is not mentioned in BPDB documents, this charge will be added as per the calculation of the Central Electricity Regulatory Authority of India.

A BPDB official on condition of anonymity said, "If you calculate the Indian transmission charge and trading margin for electricity import from Nepal, the total will be around Tk 9  per kilowatt."

Earlier, Minister of State for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said that the process of importing hydropower from Nepal is at the final stage. He highlighted the progress of importing hydropower from Nepal in a courtesy meeting with Ambassador of Nepal to Bangladesh Ghanshyam Bhanari at the secretariat on January 31 this year. At that time, the state minister for power said, "The process of importing 40 megawatts of hydropower from Nepal through India is almost at the final stage." The progress of importing 500 MW of hydropower is visible.