Nasrul to discuss with two Indian state ministers

The meetings will be held at separate offices of the Indian state ministers today, Senior Information Officer Mir Mohammad Aslam Uddin of the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday. In his first meeting, the Bangladeshi state minister will sit with Indian Petroleum and Natural Gas State Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in the morning to discuss energy related core issues, including import of gas from Tripura, ONGC’s seismic survey and drilling in the Bay of Bengal, four-countries consortium on import of gas from Myanmar, Tapi gas pipeline, and supply of LNG from Indian Oil Company etc. The meeting will also discuss on supply of re-gasification-LNG and LPG from Adani Group, establishment of LNG re-gasification unit by both countries through Petrobangla and Indian counterpart Petronet, finalisation of diesel trade deal between Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) and Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) and training to Bangladeshi energy sector etc. Nasrul Hamid will also sit with Indian Power, Coal, Renewable Energy and Mineral Resources State Minister Piyush Goyal in the afternoon. The meeting will review decisions taken at 11th Joint Steering Committee (JSC) meeting along with following updates on cross border power trade framework, import of 500MW electricity from Assam Thermal Power Project, import of electricity from Bhutan, signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA). It will also finalise the date for a tripartite meeting of three countries – Bhutan, Bangladesh and India – to discuss the issue of electricity import from Bhutan. Power Division secretary Monowar Islam will accompany the state minister along with other top officials of power and energy division. On Sunday, a 19 member delegation, led by Nasrul Hamid, went to India. The team will return on October 8.