BIMSTEC Master Plan for Energy Connectivity

The BIMSTEC Master Plan for Energy Connectivity is a blueprint adopted in 2025 by the seven-member Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) to weave the electricity grids of South and Southeast Asia into a single, tradeable network. Uniquely for a regional grouping, it treats energy not as a standalone sector but as an interconnected system spanning generation, transmission, and cross-border commerce across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Its ambition is to convert the region's geography of rivers, Himalayan hydropower, and South Asian demand into a coordinated market that can route surplus power to deficit zones in near-real time.

Background and Genesis

BIMSTEC was founded in 1997 in Bangkok with 14 sectors of cooperation, but energy remained a largely dormant pillar until the early 2020s. The 2018 Kathmandu Summit elevated energy connectivity to a core agenda, and a dedicated BIMSTEC Energy Centre was established in 2020 to give the work institutional weight. The Master Plan itself was drafted by experts from all seven members, reviewed in successive senior officials' meetings, and endorsed at the Sixth BIMSTEC Summit held in Bangkok in April 2025. The plan was developed alongside a parallel BIMSTEC Transport Connectivity Master Plan, reflecting a deliberate strategy to treat infrastructure as a coupled system rather than a set of disconnected pipelines.

Core Pillars and How It Works

The Master Plan rests on four interconnected components. First, a regional power grid architecture that identifies priority cross-border transmission lines, including the flagship India-Nepal-Bhutan-Bangladesh (INBB) interconnector designed to move surplus Bhutanese and Nepalese hydropower into Indian load centres and onward to Dhaka. Second, a framework for harmonising technical standards — grid codes, frequency norms, and metering protocols — so that power can flow across borders without operator friction. Third, a policy and regulatory chapter that recommends a model bilateral Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and a gradual move toward a multi-lateral trading arrangement modelled loosely on the South Asian regional exchange concept. Renewable energy collaboration, particularly cross-border projects in solar and hydropower, forms the fourth pillar.

India's Central Role

India is simultaneously the largest potential consumer and exporter within the scheme, given its geographic position between the Himalayan hydropower states to its north and Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka to its east and south. Indian entities such as PowerGrid and the Central Electricity Authority have already piloted several of the technologies the Master Plan formalises, including the synchronous interconnection of the South Indian grid with the rest of the country in 2013–14. Nepal's long-standing arrangement to export up to 2,000 MW to India and the existing India-Bangladesh grid link at Behrampur-Bheramara serve as proof-of-concept segments that the Master Plan seeks to scale.

Implementation Challenges and Current Status

As of late 2025, the plan is in its early operational phase, with member states expected to submit nationally determined transmission upgrade schedules. Financing remains a major constraint: the Asian Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have signalled interest, but the regional grid requires an estimated multi-billion-dollar investment before its corridors become fully functional. The unresolved crisis of acute power shortages in Bangladesh during the summer of 2025 — with the country facing a roughly 550 MW supply gap even after importing from India — has sharpened the case for faster implementation. Political friction, particularly around transit rights for power lines through Indian territory and tariff disputes, continues to slow progress on several proposed corridors. Despite this, the Master Plan marks the first time BIMSTEC members have committed to a quantified, time-bound energy integration roadmap rather than aspirational declarations.

Significance

The Master Plan reframes BIMSTEC from a forum of sporadic ministerial declarations into a project-driven organisation. If even a fraction of its corridors are built, the region would gain the ability to monetise stranded hydropower in the Eastern Himalayas, reduce its collective dependence on imported fossil fuels, and provide a template for inter-grid cooperation in other developing regions.