Govt clears signing pact for BIMSTEC power grid

The Cabinet today approved a proposal for signing an agreement to establish electricity grid interconnection among BIMSTEC countries.
"The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Power for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for establishment of the BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection," an official statement said today.
According to the statement, the MoU will be signed by member states of the Bay of Bengal Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) at the upcoming 3rd BIMSTEC Energy Ministers' Meeting to be held in Nepal shortly.
The agreement will provide a broad framework for the parties to cooperate towards the implementation of grid interconnections for the trade in electricity with a view to promoting rational and optimal power transmission in the BIMSTEC region.

This MoU will facilitate the optimisation of using the energy resources in the region for mutual benefits on non-discriminatory basis subject to laws, rules and regulations of the respective parties.
It will also promote efficient, economic and secure operation of power system needed through the development of regional electricity networks.

It will also facilitate optimisation of capital investment for generation capacity addition across the region and power exchange through cross-border interconnections.
The BIMSTEC is an international organisation involving a group of countries in South Asia and South East Asia viz. Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.
The "Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation in BIMSTEC" was formulated in the first BIMSTEC Energy Ministers' Conference held in New Delhi on October 4, 2005.

In this plan, under the "BIMSTEC Trans-Power Exchange and Development Project", it was decided that a task force led by Thailand, with representatives of member countries, will give a report on draft MoU for grid interconnections.
The total five meetings task force for BIMSTEC on trans-power exchange were held and the draft MoU for establishment of BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection was finalised by the task force on March 16, 2015.
In the BIMSTEC Leaders' Retreat 2016, held in Goa on October 16, 2016, the leaders had decided to expedite the signing of the MoU on BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection.
Eventually, during the 4th meeting of BIMSTEC Senior Officials on Energy held on January 11-12, 2017, the MoU was discussed and finalised.