AGARTALA, December 1 (TIWN): 100 MW power export from Tripura’s Palatana power project to Bangladesh, which is India’s commitment, is moving fast in the right direction said an Indian envoy posted in Dhaka.
“The Indian government has decided to sell 100MW power from the Palatana power project to Bangladesh and I have come to follow up this issue along with others like the land customs and business centres between India and Bangladesh and the Sabroom-Ramghar Bridge over river Feni. All these are milestone in the India-Bangladesh relation,” said Indian deputy high commissioner in Dhaka Sandeep Chakravorty after meeting Tripura power minister Manik Dey.

He informed that earlier the Prime Minister of both the nations had stressed on developing multi-model connectivity within the region which is vital for development and hence India and Bangladesh has decided to improve connectivity via road, train and waterways.

According to Chakraborty, “The key to development and prosperity of Tripura is through Bangladesh and government of India has taken many initiatives in this regard and I have just come to follow-up some of them.”

He informed that the Agartala-Akhaura rail link is in an advance stage of preparation of detail progress report.

The Bangladesh government is preparing the DPR which should be completed in a couple of weeks and as soon as it is ready the project work will start and preparatory works on both sides are already done.

“Land acquisition work on both sides is going on but it takes little time so that later on legal complexities do not arise,” said Chakraborty.

"India has been trying to help Bangladesh meet its electricity crisis by setting up a common grid along the border of the two countries," President PranabMukherjee said on June 21, 2013, after dedicating to the nation the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation`s (ONGC) first ever commercial power project in India.

"India`s 30 crore people still remain without electricity. In the next five years, India is expected to add 88,000 MW of electricity to its existing power supply system," Mukherjee said.

The gas-based power project, set up at Palatana in southern Tripura, 60 km south of here, will resolve the power crisis of seven of the eight northeastern states as the electricity from it would be transmitted to the power-starved northeast through the national transmission grid.

The President, in a brief 10-minute speech delivered extempore, said: "Without the help of Bangladesh, transportation of the heavy project equipment and turbines to Palatana project could not be possible, if that country did not allow their territory to ferry these heavy machineries."

From this power plant Assam will get the maximum share of 240 MW of electricity followed by Tripura (196 MW), Meghalaya (79 MW), Manipur (42 MW), Nagaland (27 MW), Mizoram (22 MW) and Arunachal Pradesh (22 MW), while Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL & FS) and ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC) keep 98 MW.

The project has been financed in a debt to equity ratio of 3:1. ONGC supplies 2.65 million standard cubic metres per day of gas to the power plant under a 15 year Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement, an official statement said.

OTPC has entered into a long-term PPA with the beneficiary States in the Northeast for approximately 87 per cent of the total project capacity as per the allocation decided by Ministry of Power.

A 400 KV Double Circuit 661 km long transmission line from the project site in Palatana to Bongaigaon is being implemented by North East Transmission Company Limited (NETCL), a JV company of OTPC, to evacuate the power generated from the project.