SHILLONG: The state government is looking at options to supply power to Bangladesh as the neighbouring country is emerging as a hotspot for trade and commerce.
Informing this here on Thursday, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, who recently led a delegation from the state to Bangladesh, said that the government also intends to come up with the right policy and put in place appropriate system and infrastructure to be able to take advantage of what is happening in the region.
“Power is one area that we are looking at and it makes a lot of sense as there are five-six projects being upgraded besides some new ones as well, which together will add about 700 MW of power, and if that were to happen we would have some surplus to sell to Bangladesh,” the chief minister said.
Stating that the state government is looking to complete the projects as soon as possible, he, however, pointed out that these require a lot of effort and funds.
“We are also looking at being the transit from Bhutan to Bangladesh. So when Bhutan sells power to Bangladesh, our infrastructure can be used. These are areas of opportunity that are there for us,” he added.
He said the opportunities have always been there for India and Bangladesh to flourish together, but there were constraints, too identifying these as lack of infrastructure, policy and people-to-people contact.
“These have stood in the way of economic activity between Bangladesh and India”, he said.
He said the state needs to be ready as the next few years will be very important for economic development in the region.
On improving connectivity, the chief minister said that the state of the Shillong-Dawki road is very critical adding that the state government is waiting for clearance from the Defence ministry to acquire some land and once that happens, the process will be expedited.
The chief minister also met the Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, in Delhi and discussed the issue.
“We are waiting for NOC from the ministry which will take a little bit of time,” he added.
