India exports 1.16-GW to Bangladesh
India and Bangladesh have jointly inaugurated three projects on 10 Sept 2018 through video conferences by their respective Prime Ministers.
These are: (a) 500 MW additional power supply from India to Bangladesh, through the existing Bheramara (Bangladesh) – Baharampur (India) interconnection. (b) Akhaura – Agartala Rail Link (c) Rehabilitation of the Kulaura-Shahbazpur section of Bangladesh Railways.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled that Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s vision of restoring connectivity to the way it was before 1965.
He said that he is happy that in the last few years, there has been steady progress towards this goal.
“Today, we have increased our power connectivity, and started two projects to increase our railway connectivity.”
Modi recalled that during his visit to Bangladesh in 2015, it had been decided to supply an additional 500 MW power to Bangladesh.
He said this is being done using the transmission link between West Bengal and Bangladesh, and thanked the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee for her facilitation in completion of this work.
He said that with the completion of this project, 1.16 Gigawatts of power is now being supplied from India to Bangladesh.
“This journey from Megawatts to Gigawatts is symbolic of a golden era in the relations between India and Bangladesh.”
The Prime Minister said that Akhaura-Agartala rail connectivity will provide another link in the cross-border connectivity between the two countries.
He thanked the Chief Minister of Tripura, Biplab Kumar Deb, for his facilitation in completion of this work.
Modi appreciated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s development goals of transforming Bangladesh into a middle income country by 2021, and a developed country by 2041.
He said that closer relations and people to people links between the two countries would take our development and prosperity to new heights.
Modi and Sheikh Hasina, along with Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Tripura jointly inaugurated the projects in Bangladesh, via video conference.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Bangladesh Foreign Minister also joined the video conference from Delhi and Dhaka, respectively. fiinews.com
