Tripura to supply power to Bangladesh from Dec 16

Tripura will start supplying power to Bangladesh from Dec 16, says a senior power department official of the state government.

It has chosen 'Bijoy Dibosh' (Victory Day) to start the supply, he said after a joint inspection of the ongoing work on transmission lines, which are nearing completion.

“Both the government of India and Bangladesh including my state government asked us to complete it (transmission line) before Dec 16 because it is an auspicious day in Bangladesh. We want our power supply to Bangladesh to start from the historic Bijoy Dibosh," said MK Chowdhury, Director Technical, Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL).

Tripura had promised to export 100 MW power to Bangladesh from its share of 196 MW power in the 726 MW Palatana project.

This is an expression of gratitude as Bangladesh allowed Tripura to bring its heavy equipment for the project.

Joint inspection by India and Bangladesh officials of the electricty transmission line between the countries.

The project could not be taken up earlier because several weak bridges on the Assam-Agartala highway made transportation of heavy equipment impossible.

Work on the 18-km transmission line from Tripura’s Surajmani Nagar to Bangladesh’s Comilla is being done by the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL).

On the Bangladesh side, another 47 km of transmission line is being constructed by Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Limited (PGCB).

A PGCB official told bdnews24.com that the project started one year ago will be done up soon.

“India and Bangladesh have almost completed the work on the transmission line to connect Tripura’s Surjamuni substation to Comilla in Bangladesh. The field level work is almost complete and line is to be switched on from  Dec 16, 2015,” said PGCB Chief Engineer (Systems Operation) Pranab Kumar Ray.

He said both sides were now 'fine-tuning' the lines before they are charged.

However, to finalise the rate of the power to be sold to Bangladesh, a two-day India-Bangladesh meeting will be held on Nov 26 in Delhi.

Tripura’s Principal Secretary (Power) SK Rakesh and Tripura State Electricity Corporation Ltd Assistant General Manager Mahananda Debbarma will attend the meeting.