Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is working on connecting about 3,000-kilometre long power grid from Myanmar-Thailand to India. This was announced by the Energy Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Dr Tawfiq-E-Elahi Chowdhury while inaugurating the energy conference of BIMSTEC in Dhaka today.

He said that the grid connectivity would ensure better capacity utilization by complementing member country’s demand and supply situation. He said, consumers will also benefit as the price of electricity will come down and they will get uninterrupted power supply.

The Adviser said that Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) are interested in investing in BIMSTEC regional power grid. BIMSTEC countries had signed a Memorandum of Understanding for establishing a regional power grid in 2018. He said that Bangladesh is in discussions with Nepal and Bhutan for trilateral power trade. He further said that regional energy integration will help build an integrated system in the region.

BIMSTEC is a regional grouping with seven countries from South and Southeast Asia including Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand , Nepal and Bhutan. It aims to promote regional cooperation for rapid economic development.