In a significant move to bolster energy supplies, the Cabinet Committee on Public Procurement approved the import of 40 MW of hydropower from Nepal during a meeting at the Secretariat on Tuesday.

The government will purchase this hydropower at a rate of Tk 8.17 per unit for the next five years. Additionally, Bangladesh will incur a trading margin of Rs 0.59 per unit payable to the Indian government, according to Cabinet Division Secretary Mahmudul Hossain Khan. The meeting was presided over by Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali.

Nepal is set to commence electricity supply to Bangladesh following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's upcoming visit to Nepal in the next couple of months.

The cabinet committee approved a total of 15 proposals, including this power import agreement. Over the next five years, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) will procure electricity worth approximately Tk 650 crore from Nepal, averaging Tk 130 crore annually. This procurement will be executed through a direct purchase method, with the electricity price proposal having been finalized in a BPDB board meeting last April.