India-Bangladesh ties: Thaw in the offing?
Bangladesh imports nearly 2,500 MW of power from India and it is hoped that the partnership in the power sector will increase and improve. “I came to India with a delegation to speak with our counterparts in India,” affirmed Mirana Mahrukh, secretary (power division), Bangladesh, while speaking to Business India. “We spoke in detail about cross-border power trade and hope this partnership is strengthened”.
Secretary Mahrukh was holding talks with Pankaj Agarwal, power secretary, India. The discussions had covered cross-border power trade, transmission interconnections, the Maitree power project, renewable energy and storage co-operation. “Both sides have agreed to further strengthen India-Bangladesh power sector engagement through established structured mechanisms,” informed a spokesperson of India.
Bangladesh has acknowledged that India was where it imported most power from. “We co-operate on energy deals, especially electricity,” remarked Mahrukh. “Our co-operation extends to 2,500 MW projects too. And Rampal is an important project for us”.
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). It has 2,656 MW of cross-border power import agreements with India and 40 MW with Nepal. In 2024-25, Bangladesh imported 8,030 million kWh of electricity from Adani's Jharkhand plant.
Bilateral meetings have been taking place between the power secretaries of both India and Bangladesh for some time. Secretary Mahrukh had also visited Mumbai and Visakhapatnam. “We will strengthen our co-operation,” the secretary contended. “This time our focus is on regional energy connectivity – on projects like the BBIN (Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal). During my visit, we also spoke about power projects that would enhance supply to Bangladesh. There was also discussion on clean energy, and we feel we could partner with India in hydrogen and green energy projects. India is good in research and, together, we can produce energy with coal and utilise all the by-products too”.
Meanwhile, talking about the India, Nepal and Bangladesh tri-lateral power transmission, Mahrukh said they were getting 14 MW of power supply now, which could be increased later. Bangladesh’s peak demand is about 18,000 MW and its major import is from India.
Bangladesh hopes that investors from India would consider investing in the country. “We have projects ready to be implemented, as also proposals for projects,” Mahrukh went on to add. “We need to work on increasing our imports. We need India’s active intervention to increase transmission”.
Discussing power projects
Bangladesh has held discussions in Visakhapatnam for solar projects – especially the newly launched solar policy. The two countries have regular bilateral meetings, but this in-person meeting has taken place after a two-year gap. “The discussions focused on regional energy co-operation, cross-border trade and joint power projects,” explained Agarwal. “There was a review re: the expansion of ongoing electricity exchange frameworks between the two nations. Talks also covered the enhancement of grid connectivity to allow smoother transfer of power”.
Bilateral ties between India and Bangladesh seem to be improving, after some initial hiccups. Bangladesh's Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has been invited to attend the BRICS summit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the host country, say reports. "We have received the invitation and forwarded it to the Prime Minister's office for consideration; the decision will be made by the prime minister", an official of the foreign ministry of Bangladesh has reportedly said.
"Bangladesh has received an invitation for Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to take part in the BRICS Summit outreach session from India, the current BIMSTEC chair. “This comes ahead of BIMSTEC’s 30th anniversary in 2027, when Bangladesh is scheduled to host the BIMSTEC Summit in Dhaka", he added.
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Fact file
The Maitree Super Thermal Power Project, Rampal, is located in southwestern Bangladesh -- in Bagerhat district within the Khulna division.
The 1,320 MW plant – two units of 660 MW each – is a joint venture between India and Bangladesh, developed through the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (BIFPCL), a partnership between Bangladesh's Power Development Board and India's National Thermal Power Corporation.
Built by Bharat Heavy Electricals under India's concessional financing framework, the first unit was commissioned in late 2022. The second followed, adding substantial baseload generation capacity to Bangladesh's national grid at a moment when that grid was under considerable pressure.
What makes Rampal significant is not its generating capacity; it is what the plant represents in the architecture of India-Bangladesh energy relations: a shift from transactional trade to something more durable, more embedded and more strategically consequential.