Coordinated and comprehensive policy and regulatory interventions is the need of the hour to meet the growing energy demand in the South Asian region of Bangladesh, Bhutan India and Nepal (BBIN). The demand in this region is estimated to grow three fold in the coming few by 2026.

Speaking at an international conference – South Asia Energy: Integrating for enhancing power market – in the capital on Wednesday, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry in partnership with The Asia Foundation - Mr Sudhakar Dalela, Joint Secretary (North), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India, said “energy cooperation in this region is crucial for capacity building and infrastructure development.”  India is committed to collaborating closely with the partner countries in ensuring energy sector cooperation.

Although the sub region is abundant in key natural resources (natural gas, coal, hydro and renewable), large part of these resources remain untapped due to several infrastructural and regulatory impediments.  Speaking at the inaugural session, Mr SN Barde, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), GMR Energy Limited, said that competitive priced energy is key to the development and industrialisation of this region. He also stated that the demand profile of the region provides the opportunity of inter-sharing electricity through cross border transmission. Mr Barde also reiterated that experience and best practices of the European integration of Power market can be implemented in the South Asian region to increase energy cooperation between BBIN countries.

Mr Deepak Amitabh, Chairman & Managing Director, PTC India Limited, said though energy cooperation in the south Asian region has evolved through decades, consumers in the BBIN countries still face issues of accessibility, quality and reliability of power. He stated that the first step towards a regional integration of power requires the creation of universal service obligation within the BBIN countries. This assessment will enable policy makers to estimate the proper demand for energy in these countries and also carve out investment friendly policies.

Mr Sheikh Faezul Amin Joint Secretary (Development), Power Division, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Government of Bangladesh, stated the a SAARC Grid is a solution towards integration of power within the sub region.

Mr Anup Kumar Upadhyay, Secretary, Ministry of Energy, Government of Nepal agreed that cooperation is the solution for best grid connectivity in power trading. Ms Anju Bhalla, Joint Secretary (IC), Ministry of Power, Government of Power stated that India welcomes more government to government and B2B cooperation in the BBIN countries. Ms Bhalla highlighted that support in planning and capacity building contributes to increased cooperation in energy trading.

Mr Sagar Prasai, Country Head, Asia Foundation, closed the session by saying that integration is essential to achieve lower consumer price, investments and ensure a faster pace of energy cooperation.

21 December 2016

New Delhi