Bangladesh regularly imports electricity from India. India has now sought to impose a new charge on the electricity it exports to Bangladesh, demanding 0.005 Indian rupees per unit. If the charge is added, the cost of imported electricity will increase.

However, delays in reaching an agreement over the charge could disrupt electricity imports from India.

The Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources has sought the Finance Ministry’s opinion on signing a new agreement. In a letter sent to the Finance Division on 18 August, the Power Division said a Settlement Nodal Agency (SNA) agreement needs to be signed between the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN), an Indian state-owned company.

Any delay in signing the agreement could create complications in importing 1,160 megawatts of electricity through NVVN, it said.

According to the letter, India’s Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) initially proposed a charge of 0.01 Indian rupees per unit for cross-border electricity trade. Following an application by BPDB, the charge was later reduced by half to 0.005 rupees.