Importing electricity from India with Tk 7,000 crore loss
highest demand for electricity during peak hours is said to be 12,000 MW. The government also claimed that the current generation capacity of the power plants set up in the country has exceeded 23,000 MW. As there is no demand as per the government, 45 percent power plants of the country have been set up. Thousands of crores of rupees have to be paid for capacity by keeping the private sector owned power plants idle. Even after that, electricity is being imported from India mysteriously. The volume of imports has continuously increased to 1400 MW.
Not only that, Bangladesh does not need to import Indian power like domestic power plants, but it has to pay capacity charge. India had to pay Tk 6,923 crore [close to a billion dollars] as capacity charge without electricity in that year. Of this, about one and a half thousand crore rupees had to be paid in the last financial year.
India is importing electricity from Bhutan at the rate of two and a quarter rupees, while the average price of electricity imported from India to Bangladesh is 7 to 8 rupees. At this rate now 1180 MW of electricity has to be taken or capacity charge has to be paid for this amount of electricity. In this way, not only the government-affiliated domestic companies have been given the opportunity to loot freely, but also India is squandering huge sums of money in the name of capacity charges without providing electricity. Moreover, there is ambiguity about how much electricity is coming from India, how it is being billed, capacity charges or on what basis it is being paid. There are allegations of irregularities and looting in this regard through syndicates at the power level of the two countries. The whole of Bangladesh was plunged into darkness due to the tripping of the power sub-station on the Indian side. When the transmission line on the other side is broken, the whole grid system of Bangladesh loses its balance and this black out happens.
The ruling Awami League government is claiming success in generating a record amount of electricity. Besides, the Awami League government also has the credit of taking Bangladesh in the list of power importing countries. At one time no one could have imagined that electricity would be added to the import list. Again, many power import agreements have been made for a long period of 25 years.
The Awami League government started importing electricity from neighboring India for the first time in the 2013-14 financial year just to satisfy the demand when the power generation and demand in the country was at almost parallel level. But in India itself there is a huge power shortage and load shedding. That is why India meets the demand by importing electricity from Bhutan. Electricity imports from the country have increased almost every year since the 2013-14 financial year for unknown reasons. The country has suffered a great loss due to the obligation to pay capacity charge along with the price of electricity in the import agreement.
According to PDB sources, Bangladesh first started importing 250 MW of NVVN power on GTZ basis in 2014. The term of this agreement is 25 years. In other words, this agreement will expire in 2039. The remaining 300 MW of NVVN, 200 MW of PTC and 250 MW of Sembacop were imported in 2016. The term of these three agreements is 15 years. In other words, these three agreements will end in 2033. The agreement was signed in 2016 to import 160 MW of electricity from Tripura. The five-year agreement will end in 2021.
According to PDB data, an agreement was reached to import 500 MW of electricity from India in the 2013-14 financial year. The amount of electricity imported that year was 226 crore 50 lakh kilowatt hours. It costs one thousand 145 crore 84 lakh rupees. Of this, the capacity charge was Tk 500.62 crore. In that financial year, the cost of importing electricity was five rupees and six paise per unit.
The following year, in the 2014-15 financial year, the amount of electricity imported from India increased to 338.99 crore kilowatt hours. It costs one thousand 900 crore 36 lakh rupees. Of this, capacity charge was Tk 921.91 crore. In that financial year, the price per unit of electricity imports increased by five rupees and 72 paise.
An agreement was reached to import another 100 MW of electricity in the 2015-16 financial year. In that year, the amount of electricity import increased to 362 crore 24 lakh kilowatt hours. It costs one thousand 97 crore 8 lakh rupees. Of this, the capacity charge was Tk 640 crore 16 lakh.
In the next financial year, an agreement was reached to import another 100 MW of electricity. The total import stood at 600 MW. As a result, the import of electricity from India increased to 469.40 million kilowatt hours in the 2016-17 financial year. For this you have to pay two thousand 592 crore 55 lakh rupees. Of this, the capacity charge was Tk 628.53 crore. And in that financial year, the cost per unit of electricity import increased a little and stood at five rupees 52 paise.
In the 2016-17 financial year, the amount of electricity imports further increased to 48 crore 69 lakh units. It cost two thousand 612 crore 57 lakh rupees. Of this, the capacity charge was Tk 96.06 crore. And in that financial year the cost per unit of electricity import increased to five taka 6 paisa.
In the 2018-19 financial year, the import of electricity from India was increased by 610 MW. This increased the import to one thousand 410 MW. The total amount of electricity imported that year was 69 million kilowatt hours. For this you have to pay three thousand 702 crore 63 lakh rupees. Of this, the capacity charge was Tk 1,553.26 crore. Due to the expiration of an agreement, the import of electricity from India was reduced by 250 MW in the last 2019-20 financial year. The amount of import stands at one thousand 160 megawatts.
In the last financial year, the total amount of electricity imports decreased to 659.32 crore kilowatt hours. However, the cost of imports has increased due to capacity charges. This year, four thousand seven crore 94 lakh rupees has to be paid. Of this, the capacity charge was Tk 1,492.56 crore. This increased the import cost per unit to six rupees and eight paise. In other words, the average cost of importing electricity from India has increased by about 11.36 percent in the last financial year.
Senior PDB officials do not want to open their mouths on the matter. They said that one after another agreements have been reached to import electricity from India under the guidance of the highest level of government. Even if electricity cannot be taken now, thousands of crores of rupees have to be paid as capacity charge.
According to PDB sources, India regularly imports electricity from Bhutan even though it exports to Bangladesh. The amount is increasing every year. However, in this case, the cost of India's exports to Bangladesh is about one-third. This information has come up in a report of South Asia Sub-Regional Economic Corporation (SASEC) on 28 August. According to the report titled 'Bhutan's Electricity Export to India Countries to Increase', Bhutan's Drick Green Power Corporation exported 362.4 million units of electricity to India in January-July this year. Bhutan's income from this has been 9 crore 96 lakh 20 thousand dollars. As per this, the export price of electricity per unit was zero point 026 dollars or 2 rupees 26 paise.
No one has a good answer as to why the agreement was signed to import more than 1400 MW of power by setting up power plants in the public and private sectors of the country. State Minister for Energy and Power Nasrul Hamid has recently claimed that the country's power generation capacity has increased to about 23,546 MW. Due to lack of demand, the highest production so far has been 12,793 MW (on May 25, 2019). In other words, 45 percent of the capacity is sitting idle.
amardesh.co.uk
- 1400 MW import by telling the story of 23 thousand MW capacity
- Keeping generation capacity 45% idle, a 25-year suicide pact was done to import electricity
- India import from Bhutan at 2 and a quarter taka and exported to Bangladesh at 6 to 7 taka
highest demand for electricity during peak hours is said to be 12,000 MW. The government also claimed that the current generation capacity of the power plants set up in the country has exceeded 23,000 MW. As there is no demand as per the government, 45 percent power plants of the country have been set up. Thousands of crores of rupees have to be paid for capacity by keeping the private sector owned power plants idle. Even after that, electricity is being imported from India mysteriously. The volume of imports has continuously increased to 1400 MW.
Not only that, Bangladesh does not need to import Indian power like domestic power plants, but it has to pay capacity charge. India had to pay Tk 6,923 crore [close to a billion dollars] as capacity charge without electricity in that year. Of this, about one and a half thousand crore rupees had to be paid in the last financial year.
India is importing electricity from Bhutan at the rate of two and a quarter rupees, while the average price of electricity imported from India to Bangladesh is 7 to 8 rupees. At this rate now 1180 MW of electricity has to be taken or capacity charge has to be paid for this amount of electricity. In this way, not only the government-affiliated domestic companies have been given the opportunity to loot freely, but also India is squandering huge sums of money in the name of capacity charges without providing electricity. Moreover, there is ambiguity about how much electricity is coming from India, how it is being billed, capacity charges or on what basis it is being paid. There are allegations of irregularities and looting in this regard through syndicates at the power level of the two countries. The whole of Bangladesh was plunged into darkness due to the tripping of the power sub-station on the Indian side. When the transmission line on the other side is broken, the whole grid system of Bangladesh loses its balance and this black out happens.
The ruling Awami League government is claiming success in generating a record amount of electricity. Besides, the Awami League government also has the credit of taking Bangladesh in the list of power importing countries. At one time no one could have imagined that electricity would be added to the import list. Again, many power import agreements have been made for a long period of 25 years.
The Awami League government started importing electricity from neighboring India for the first time in the 2013-14 financial year just to satisfy the demand when the power generation and demand in the country was at almost parallel level. But in India itself there is a huge power shortage and load shedding. That is why India meets the demand by importing electricity from Bhutan. Electricity imports from the country have increased almost every year since the 2013-14 financial year for unknown reasons. The country has suffered a great loss due to the obligation to pay capacity charge along with the price of electricity in the import agreement.
According to PDB sources, Bangladesh first started importing 250 MW of NVVN power on GTZ basis in 2014. The term of this agreement is 25 years. In other words, this agreement will expire in 2039. The remaining 300 MW of NVVN, 200 MW of PTC and 250 MW of Sembacop were imported in 2016. The term of these three agreements is 15 years. In other words, these three agreements will end in 2033. The agreement was signed in 2016 to import 160 MW of electricity from Tripura. The five-year agreement will end in 2021.
According to PDB data, an agreement was reached to import 500 MW of electricity from India in the 2013-14 financial year. The amount of electricity imported that year was 226 crore 50 lakh kilowatt hours. It costs one thousand 145 crore 84 lakh rupees. Of this, the capacity charge was Tk 500.62 crore. In that financial year, the cost of importing electricity was five rupees and six paise per unit.
The following year, in the 2014-15 financial year, the amount of electricity imported from India increased to 338.99 crore kilowatt hours. It costs one thousand 900 crore 36 lakh rupees. Of this, capacity charge was Tk 921.91 crore. In that financial year, the price per unit of electricity imports increased by five rupees and 72 paise.
An agreement was reached to import another 100 MW of electricity in the 2015-16 financial year. In that year, the amount of electricity import increased to 362 crore 24 lakh kilowatt hours. It costs one thousand 97 crore 8 lakh rupees. Of this, the capacity charge was Tk 640 crore 16 lakh.
In the next financial year, an agreement was reached to import another 100 MW of electricity. The total import stood at 600 MW. As a result, the import of electricity from India increased to 469.40 million kilowatt hours in the 2016-17 financial year. For this you have to pay two thousand 592 crore 55 lakh rupees. Of this, the capacity charge was Tk 628.53 crore. And in that financial year, the cost per unit of electricity import increased a little and stood at five rupees 52 paise.
In the 2016-17 financial year, the amount of electricity imports further increased to 48 crore 69 lakh units. It cost two thousand 612 crore 57 lakh rupees. Of this, the capacity charge was Tk 96.06 crore. And in that financial year the cost per unit of electricity import increased to five taka 6 paisa.
In the 2018-19 financial year, the import of electricity from India was increased by 610 MW. This increased the import to one thousand 410 MW. The total amount of electricity imported that year was 69 million kilowatt hours. For this you have to pay three thousand 702 crore 63 lakh rupees. Of this, the capacity charge was Tk 1,553.26 crore. Due to the expiration of an agreement, the import of electricity from India was reduced by 250 MW in the last 2019-20 financial year. The amount of import stands at one thousand 160 megawatts.
In the last financial year, the total amount of electricity imports decreased to 659.32 crore kilowatt hours. However, the cost of imports has increased due to capacity charges. This year, four thousand seven crore 94 lakh rupees has to be paid. Of this, the capacity charge was Tk 1,492.56 crore. This increased the import cost per unit to six rupees and eight paise. In other words, the average cost of importing electricity from India has increased by about 11.36 percent in the last financial year.
Senior PDB officials do not want to open their mouths on the matter. They said that one after another agreements have been reached to import electricity from India under the guidance of the highest level of government. Even if electricity cannot be taken now, thousands of crores of rupees have to be paid as capacity charge.
According to PDB sources, India regularly imports electricity from Bhutan even though it exports to Bangladesh. The amount is increasing every year. However, in this case, the cost of India's exports to Bangladesh is about one-third. This information has come up in a report of South Asia Sub-Regional Economic Corporation (SASEC) on 28 August. According to the report titled 'Bhutan's Electricity Export to India Countries to Increase', Bhutan's Drick Green Power Corporation exported 362.4 million units of electricity to India in January-July this year. Bhutan's income from this has been 9 crore 96 lakh 20 thousand dollars. As per this, the export price of electricity per unit was zero point 026 dollars or 2 rupees 26 paise.
No one has a good answer as to why the agreement was signed to import more than 1400 MW of power by setting up power plants in the public and private sectors of the country. State Minister for Energy and Power Nasrul Hamid has recently claimed that the country's power generation capacity has increased to about 23,546 MW. Due to lack of demand, the highest production so far has been 12,793 MW (on May 25, 2019). In other words, 45 percent of the capacity is sitting idle.
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