Lok Sabha Question No. 4186 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-19
Subject: Trade in Electricity
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Jasbir Singh Gill

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4186 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.03.2020

## TRADE IN ELECTRICITY

4186.  SHRI JASBIR SINGH GILL:

Will the Minister of POWER

be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  trade  relation  in  electricity  with  neighbouring countries  such  as  Nepal,  Bhutan,  Bangladesh,  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not,  the reasons therefor;
- (b) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  improve  power  connectivity  between neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh;
- (c) whether  Nepal  and  Bangladesh  are  using  the  Indian  transmission  grid  to  trade power between the two countries and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the benefits the Government expects to accrue from a robust power trading regime between India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan; and
- (e) whether  India  has  learned  from  the  best  practices  in  regional  power  systems integration like in European Union?

## A N S W E R

THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  (INDEPENDENT  CHARGE)  FOR  POWER,  NEW  &  RENEWABLE ENERGY AND THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

( SHRI  R.K. SINGH)

- (a) : Yes,  Sir.    Presently,  India  exports  electricity  to  Nepal,  Bangladesh  and Myanmar, while India imports power from Bhutan. However, sometimes India also exports power to Bhutan during lean hydro season. Import / Export of energy by India into/from these countries during the Financial Year 2019-20 (as on January, 2020)  is as follows:-

|   Sl. No. | Country    | Import (In Million Units)   | Export (In Million Units)   |
|-----------|------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
|         1 | Nepal      | ---                         | 1839.25                     |
|         2 | Bhutan,    | 6165.78                     | --                          |
|         3 | Bangladesh | --                          | 6168.14                     |
|         4 | Myanmar    | --                          | 7.34                        |

……….2.

(b) : India  has  signed  Memorandum  of  Understanding  with  Bhutan,  Bangladesh, Nepal,  and  Myanmar  to  inter-alia  improve  power  connectivity  with  these  neighbouring countries.  The  Ministry  of  Power  issued  the  Guidelines  on  Cross  Border  Trade  of Electricity  on  05.12.2016,  which  was  subsequently  substituted  by  the  'Guidelines  for Import/Export (Cross Border) of Electricity-2018' issued on 18.12.2018, to promote cross border  trade  of  electricity  with  neighbouring  countries.  Central  Electricity  Regulatory Commission (CERC) issued CERC (Cross Border Trade of Electricity) Regulations, 2019 on 8 th   March  2019.  Further  to  improve  power  connectivity  with  neighbouring  countries, following interconnections are at various stages of implementation:-

- (i) 400kV  operation  of  Muzaffarpur  (India)  -  Dhalkebar  (Nepal)  400kV  D/c  line (operated at 220kV)
- (ii) Baharampur (India) - Bheramara (Bangladesh) 2 nd  400kV D/c line
- (iii) Alipurduar (India) - Jigmeling (Bhutan) 400kV D/c (Quad)  line
- (iv) Gorakhpur (India) - New Butwal (Nepal) 400kV D/c (Quad) line
- (v) Sitamarhi (India) - Dhalkebar (Nepal) - Arun-3 HEP (Nepal) 400kV D/c (Quad) line

(c) : No,  Sir.    Nepal  and  Bangladesh  are  not  using  Indian  Transmission  Grid  to trade power between two countries.

(d) : The  trading  arrangement  for  import/export  of  electricity  with  neighboring countries,  including  Nepal,  Bhutan  and  Bangladesh  would  facilitate  regional  trade  in power and help in meeting the requirement of power in the respective countries thereby moving towards greater energy security in the region.

(e) : India  already  has  regional    power  system  integration  with  Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal through high voltage synchronous (Alternating Current) and asynchronous  (High  Voltage  Direct  Current)  connections.    Learning  from  the  best practices  of  advanced  nations,  the  latest  technologies  like  STATCOM,  Voltage  Source Converter based HVDC system, etc. have been deployed in the Indian grid as a continuous measure of improvement for facilitating power transfer with reliability amongst regional neighbouring countries.

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