An amendment to India’s power export rules introduced recently allows Indian power exporters to reroute their output to Indian grids if there is a delay in payments from partner countries.
Aim of Amendment
- The Amendment sought to de-risk India’s only power export plant of 1,600 MW in Godda Jharkhand (of the Adani Group) which exports its entire output to Bangladesh against any political risks in the wake of the current crisis in Bangladesh.
About The “Guidelines for Import/Export (Cross Border) of Electricity-2018”
- Issues by: Ministry of Power in consultation with Ministry of External Affairs
- Objectives:
- Facilitate import/ export of electricity between India and neighbouring countries
- Reliable grid operation and transmission of electricity for import/ export
- Agreements of Trade: The import/ export of electricity shall be allowed through mutual agreements between the Entities of both the countries under the overall framework of agreements signed through,
- Bilateral agreement between two countries
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The Godda Project
- The Godda plant is India’s first transnational power project that supplies all the power generated to another nation ie. Bangladesh
- The Godda plant contributes about 6% of Bangladesh’s overall installed generation capacity
- Operational: Adani’s Godda plant started operating in 2022 and became fully operational in June 2023.
- Location: It is an ultra super-critical thermal power plant of the Adani Power supplies group in The Godda District of Jharkhand
- Power Capacity: 1,496-megawatt net capacity
- Power Purchase Agreement (PPA): The Power supplies are facilitated under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) entered with the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) in November 2017 for a period of 25 years.
- Special Economic Zone: The AJPL’s Godda plant was declared an SEZ (Special Economic Zone) by the Centre in March 2019.
- Imported Coal: The Power Plant use 100% imported coal from the Carmichael mine in Australia into India to produce power for Bangladesh.
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- A bidding route
- A mutual agreements between entities
- Legal Provisions: The import/ export of electricity shall be subject to the rules and policies of the Government of India/ Central Electricity Authority (CEA)/ Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and the appropriate State Electricity Regulatory Commission(s).
- Exception: In case of electricity generated from a coal based power plant, exports of electricity will be allowed only where such electricity is generated utilizing imported coal or spot e-auction coal or coal obtained from commercial mining.
India’s Electricity Exports to Bangladesh
- As per the Bangladesh Power Development Board’s (BPDB) annual report for 2022-23,
- 2,656 MW of Electricity was imported from India constituting more than 10% of overall generation capacity.
- India exported 11,933.83 million units (MU) of power worth $1.03 billion (9.3 per cent of total exports of $11.06 billion) to Bangladesh from April 2023 to March 2024,as per the data of Department of Commerce portal
- Diesel was ranked 2nd in exports with $829.59 million (7.5 per cent of total exports) while cotton was third at $595.81 million (5.38 per cent).
- Company wise breakup: There are four companies currently exporting electricity to Bangladesh,
- Power Trader NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN)
- Power Trader PTC India Ltd
- Generating units of Sembcorp Energy India Ltd
- Generating units of Adani Power ltd: 90 per cent of the exports comes from this plant located in Jharkahnad’s Godda district
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India Becoming NET Exporter of Electricity
- India was a net exporter of electricity to the tune of 4,713 MU (million units) in FY24 to the four nations of Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh, as per the official statistics released by GRID-INDIA (formerly POSOCO)
 Bhutan and Nepal: India has two-way trade in electricity ie. India engages in both imports and exports.-
- India imports: During the monsoon when hydropower generation in these countries peak during June to October.
- Exports: During winter, when hydropower generation in Bhutan and Nepal is at its lowest, India turns exporter.
- Bangladesh and Myanmar: India only exports electricity with nil imports.
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August 20, 2024
