A change in India’s power export rules

A change in India’s power export rules

Sub: Geo

Sec: Eco Geo

Context:

• Adani Power emphasised their commitment of supplying electricity to Bangladesh, stating that the recent amendment does not affect its existing contract.

Amendment:

• Recently, an amendment was introduced to India’s power export rules.
• It allows Indian power exporters to reroute their output to Indian grids if there is a delay in payments from partner countries.

About Godda project:

• The Godda plant is India’s first transnational power project that supplies all the power generated to another nation.
• The ultra super-critical thermal power plant in Godda supplies 1,496 MW of power to Bangladesh.
• This power transfer is facilitated under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) entered with the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) in 2017 for a period of 25 years.

Criticism about the project:

• The project has been criticised for the use of coal imported from the Carmichael mine in Australia into India to produce power for Bangladesh.
• This has led to excessive prices compared to domestic plants.

Why does Bangladesh need imports?

• The power plants in Bangladesh are underutilised.
• This situation was exacerbated by the global energy crisis following Russia-Ukraine war.