India, Nepal, B'desh finalise draft of power trade deal

India, Nepal and Bangladesh have finalised the draft of a tripartite power trade agreement, a development in line with New Delhi's efforts to forge greater energy connectivity across the neighbourhood, people familiar with the matter said.

- Rezaul H Laskar and Rajeev Jayaswal

The proposed pact, the first of its kind, has been agreed to by the three countries and is expected to be signed in the coming months, the people said. The agreement will also meet a long-standing demand from Nepal and Bangladesh to allow the trading of power through the Indian grid.

During Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's visit to New Delhi at the beginning of June, he and Prime Narendra Modi unveiled plans for India to facilitate the export of hydropower from Nepal to Bangladesh. Dahal said a beginning will be made by exporting 50MW, though the people said there is potential for this to be ramped up once the agreement is in place. The move fits in with efforts by India to forge greater energy connectivity with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka through electricity transmission networks and petroleum pipelines. An unstated objective is also to reduce dependence of neighbours on China, they added.