Bangladesh Turns To India, Ramps Up Power Imports To Meet Surging Demand: Report

Last Updated:September 11, 2025, 21:19 IST

Bangladesh’s power imports from India rose by 70% in the seven months through July and helped meet the rising demand, as per Bangladesh govt data.

A pharmaceutical shop uses candle lights to serve customers during countrywide blackout in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (IMAGE: REUTERS FILE/REPRESENTATIVE)

Bangladesh has increased its power imports from India as Dhaka scrambled to meet rising electricity demand as it grapples with gas supply constraints and coal plant maintenance-related issues. A Reuters report said that power imports rose 70 percent in the seven months through July and helped satisfy most of the rising demand, citing Bangladesh government data.

“It’s about cost effectiveness, and gas is required for the fertilizer industry, whereas cheap electricity can be received from other sources, including fuel oil. There is a shortage of gas for electricity generation and evacuation problems," Adeeba Aziz Khan, director of Bangladesh’s Summit Power, was quoted as saying by the news agency. Khan made the comments on the sidelines of the APPEC conference. Her

Her firm runs a dozen power plants using gas and fuel oil. She further added that it was difficult to see a resurgence in gas-fired generation in the “foreseeable future."

Faced with gas infrastructure hurdles and rising costs, Bangladesh has been increasingly relying on coal-fired power and electricity imports, even though natural gas met nearly two-thirds of its demand in the decade up to 2020.

“The government didn’t have many choices. To avoid blackouts, they turned to imports," an unnamed official of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The BPDB official told the news agency that many gas-fired plants were not running at capacity because of pressure-related technical problems. They also said that coal-fired power output was lower due to maintenance outages.

The share of imports during the first seven months of this year jumped to 15.4 percent from 9.5 percent and that of fuel oil-fired power rose to 12.6 percent from 11.9 percent annually, Bangladesh government data showed.

The share of natural gas in power generation slipped to 43.9 percent from 46.8 percent, while the share of domestic coal-fired output fell to 26.2 percent from 30.1 percent.

Dhaka increased imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 24 percent in the seven months through July, data from analytics firm Kpler showed. Still, gas-fired power generation fell 1.2 percent, according to government data accessed by the news agency.

News world Bangladesh Turns To India, Ramps Up Power Imports To Meet Surging Demand: Report

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