New Delhi: In the throes of a major power crisis, Bangladesh has ordered shopping malls, markets and shops to close by 8 pm and is now hoping to seek additional diesel supplies from India.
According to a notification issued by Bangladesh’s Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Wednesday, the restrictions extend beyond commercial areas. Ongoing and upcoming fairs and cultural programmes across the country have also been directed to conclude by 8 pm, Daily Star reported. The government’s move comes as Bangladesh struggles with reduced electricity generation due to disruptions in fuel and gas supplies.
Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood last week said Bangladesh had asked India for more diesel. “We have a pipeline with India through which diesel is supplied. We have asked them to provide more,” he told reporters on 6 August. He also conveyed the same to Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi, when the latter paid him a courtesy visit on 7 August.
India acknowledged receiving the request but has not committed to supplying additional volumes. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal Tuesday said New Delhi was examining Bangladesh’s request for diesel.
The India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline, which was inaugurated in 2023, supplies diesel to Bangladesh under a 15-year agreement covering 180,000 metric tonnes annually.
India also supplied more than 30,000 tonnes of diesel to Bangladesh in March and April amid disruptions and uncertainty in global energy markets because of the West Asia war.
The crisis was exacerbated after a fire at a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in Cox’s Bazar in July damaged one of its two boilers and forced the facility to suspend operations. The disruption reduced Bangladesh’s daily gas supply to below 2,150 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), compared to an average of about 2,700 mmcfd over the past year, according to the Dhaka Tribune. By August, the boiler had been repaired, giving some relief.
India-Bangladesh energy ties
India’s energy engagement with Bangladesh evolved alongside a broader shift in bilateral relations in the Hasina era. In October 2013, India began exporting electricity to Bangladesh, ahead of Bangladesh’s January 2014 parliamentary elections.
In March 2016, New Delhi agreed to supply an additional 100 megawatts of electricity. India also supplies high-speed diesel to its neighbour.
India-Bangladesh ties however are at a delicate stage amid fresh tensions over former PM Sheikh Hasina’s public address in New Delhi last week, speaking by audio link to journalists gathered at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia. Bangladesh PM Tarique Rahman is also unlikely to attend the BRICS summit in September on India’s invitation, according to local media.
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi later called on Rahman to smooth out differences. A high-level delegation, including the RA&W chief, Parag Jain also visited Dhaka this week.
Bangladesh currently imports nearly 2,500 megawatts of electricity from India and is looking to deepen cooperation with its largest power-trading partner as it seeks to strengthen energy security.
Last week, Mirana Mahrukh, secretary of Bangladesh’s Power Division, travelled to India to discuss cross-border electricity trade and held discussions with India’s Power Secretary Pankaj Agarwal. They spoke on a range of issues, including cross-border electricity trade, transmission interconnections, the Maitree Power Project, renewable energy and energy-storage cooperation.
Bangladesh imports electricity from four Indian suppliers under separate agreements: Adani Power, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN), Sembcorp Energy India and Power Trading Corporation of India (PTC India). During the 2024-25 financial year, Bangladesh imported 8,030 million kilowatt-hours of electricity from Adani Power’s plant in Jharkhand.
Energy cooperation between the two countries has been expanding through regular meetings between their respective power secretaries. Mahrukh also visited Mumbai and Visakhapatnam as part of efforts to explore further areas of collaboration.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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