PM Modi to inaugurate power supply from Tripura to B'desh on March 23

Agartala, March 9: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate by remote control 100 mw power supply from Tripura's Palatana project to Bangladesh on March 23. The same day Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would provide 10 GB Internet bandwidth to India, Tripura Power and Communication Minister Manik Dey told reporters here on Wednesday, March 9.

Dey said there would not be any formal function in the state to mark the occasion as the entire programme would be held through video-conferencing.

After the formal opening of international gateway of internet, Tripura will be third state which is having such gateway after Mumbai and Chennai. This will help the entire north eastern states, he said.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had laid the foundation of the project in Agartala on July 13, 2015 that aims at strengthening telecom services in the north eastern states.

Under the project, an international gateway for broadband connectivity will be set up at Agartala in which connectivity will be provided through Bangladesh under an agreement between BSNL and Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company limited.

The cost of the project is Rs 19.1 crore and annual operational expenditure is around Rs 7.2 crore. The bandwidth of 10 GB can be extended up to 40 GB.

Meanwhile, pricing of one unit of power was fixed at Rs 5.5 in a meeting between Tripura Power Minister Manik Dey and Bangladesh Minister of State for Power Nasirul Hamid on January 9 last in Dhaka. PGCIL erected 47 km long 400 kv double circuit transmission lines from Suryamaninagar powergrid near here to Comilla in Bangladesh.

The 726 MW gas based thermal power project at Palatana in Gomati district is run by ONGC Tripura Power Corporation (OTPC).

PTI