Bangladesh owes Tripura ₹200cr for electricity, claims its chief minister

Bangladesh owes Tripura ₹200 crore in electricity dues, but no decision has been made yet on halting power supply to the neighbouring country, said the Chief Minister of Tripura, Manik Saha, on Monday (24 December).

Tripura supplies 60-70 megawatts of power to Bangladesh according to an agreement signed by the Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited through the NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited with the Bangladesh Power Development Board.

"Bangladesh has not paid us about ₹200 crore for supplying electricity. The outstanding [amount] is increasing every day. We hope that they will clear their dues so that the power supply is not disrupted," Saha told PTI during an interview.

Asked whether the Tripura government would stop the supply of electricity if Dhaka fails to pay the dues, the chief minister said no decision has been taken on it yet.

He said several pieces of machinery at the power generation plant in Tripura were brought through either Bangladeshi territory or Chittagong port. Therefore, out of gratitude, the Tripura government started supplying power to the country following a pact.

"But I don't know how long we will be able to continue the supply of electricity to Bangladesh if they don't clear the dues," he said.

Tripura began supplying power to Bangladesh in March 2016. The electricity is produced at the state-owned ONGC Tripura Power Company's (OTPC) gas-based 726 MW generation capacity power plant in southern Tripura's Palatana.

According to reports, Adani Power, which exports power to Bangladesh from its 1,600 MW Godda plant in Jharkhand, reduced the supply to 520 MW from around 1,400-1,500 MW in August due to non-payment of $800 million by Bangladesh.

Asked about the impacts on Tripura due to the reported attacks on Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh, Saha said there is no major influx from the neighbouring country to his state yet.

"But we are closely monitoring the situation along the border since the border is porous as there are many gaps. However, as of now, there is no major influx from Bangladesh after the present turmoil started in that country in August," he said.

Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on its north, south and west and the length of its international border is 856 km, which is 84% of its total border.

Stern action over attack on Bangladesh mission

Commenting on the recent breach of security at the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala, the chief minister said he had taken strong action in the case.

"We have arrested several people who were involved in it. We have also taken action against policemen who were responsible for the security of the premises where the breach took place," he said.