DHAKA: Bangladesh has secured a negotiated cut-down rate of tariff to import around 250 megawatts (MWs) of electricity from India, officials said. The reduction is estimated to save around Tk 128.70 million for the country in power purchase from the Power Trading Corporation (PTC) of India over the next six months. The Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) secured the electricity-tariff cut to Tk 6.14 per unit (1.0 kilowatt-hour) from the previously quoted Tk 6.26 per unit, a senior power official told the FE Sunday. “We have been able to have the electricity tariff reduced for extension of the deal as the PTC would not require any additional installment cost to supply the electricity,” he said.
The proposal would be sent to the cabinet committee on government purchases this week for final nod, said the Power Division official. Meanwhile, the existing deal on electricity import through the PTC would expire on January 31, 2017. The Indian PTC had sought to sell electricity at Tk 6.26 per unit to the state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). Bangladesh currently imports around 650MW electricity from the neighbouring country under different mechanisms, devised amid electricity crunch in the recent past. Of the imported electricity, 250 MW comes from Indian government-allocated quota at an average tariff rate of Tk 2.78 per unit. Another 250MW power comes through PTC.
Bangladesh imports 100 MW of electricity from Tripura at a tariff rate of Tk 6.13 per unit. Another quantum of around 40 MW come from open market at a rate of Tk 4.46 per unit. Bangladesh had initiated import of around 250 MW of electricity through PTC since July 2013 at a tariff rate of Tk 6.30 per unit under a three-year agreement. The deal was extended for a six-month period until January 2017, with the tariff rate reduced to Tk 6.26 per unit that helped save the power-purchase costs by Tk 81.70 million for six months.
