These days Bangladesh is facing a huge energy crisis. Amidst the current political upheaval there and the rhetoric being made against India, a bitter truth is that the ‘light’ of Bangladesh is largely in India’s hands. If diplomatic relations even slightly sour and trade is affected, a large part of the neighboring country can be plunged into darkness. The situation is such that India is no longer just a neighbor but has become a ‘lifeline’ for electricity supply there.
India contributes 17 units of electricity out of every 100 units.
Bangladesh The government’s own figures show how India’s dependence on electricity has grown there. India’s electricity imports have increased by nearly 70 percent compared to last year. This means that India’s share of the total electricity consumed in Bangladesh has now reached 17 percent, which was only 9.5 percent a while back. That is, as of today, 17 out of every 100 bulbs burning there are being lit by electricity sent from India. Currently, under cross-border agreements, Bangladesh is taking an average of 2,200 to 2,300 MW of electricity from India per day.
Supply depends on Adani’s ‘power’
The biggest name in this entire supply chain is Gautam Adani’s company ‘Adani Power’. The largest share of electricity from India to Bangladesh, about 1,496 MW, is supplied from Adani Power’s Godda plant in Jharkhand alone. How big this figure is can be estimated from the fact that it is a large part of Bangladesh’s total requirement. Apart from this, government and private companies like NTPC and PTC India also help in supply, but Adani Power’s share is the most important. In such a situation, if this supply chain is affected due to technical or political reasons, the balance of Bangladesh’s grid is sure to be disturbed.
Domestic gas and coal also left us
There was a time when Bangladesh generated two-thirds of its electricity from domestic natural gas. But now technical problems and low-pressure problems have become common in the gas wells there. Bangladesh Power Development Board officials also admit that many of their plants cannot run at full capacity due to gas shortages.
On the other hand, due to maintenance, the production of coal-based power plants there has also decreased from 30 percent to 26 percent. Despite the increase in LNG imports, there has been a decline in power generation. It is for this reason that the failure of domestic resources has made Bangladesh dependent on India’s expensive but reliable electricity. According to energy experts, it will be difficult for Bangladesh to meet this shortfall on its own in the near future, which means that the ‘master switch’ of electricity will remain with India for the time being.