The Secretary for the Ministry of Power, Mr. Pradeep Kumar Pujari, has stated that India will continue to buy energy from Bhutan. This statement was made in connection to another related news which stated that India is driven to expand its power generation capacity by three times and reach the 800 GW mark by the year 2030. The planis to add 100 MW of solar power by the year 2022 and also work on harnessing wind power by adding 8 MW to its capacity each year. The Indian Government is aiming at providing electricity to every village and household by the year 2021.

However, even after increased power generation capacity India will still continue exporting power whichmeans that Bhutan’s energy market in India is fully secure. There’s a huge latent demand for electricity in India where the current per capita energy consumption is 1,100 units on an average. However, this average is limited by the lack of availability of enough electricity and also does not take into account the people living in regions which have no access to electricity. Once more electricity is available for supply, the demand for it and consumption will automatically go up. Making use of renewable sources of energy such as solar power and wind power is a good view to meet the energy requirements of the country but they depend on factors such as sunlight and wind direction and thereforeoutput could fluctuate.

Thermal power is the main source of electricity in India at the present but thermal power Plants require about 24 hours to commission after every load shedding. Hydro power plants are required to balance the grid in such a situation and the more we move towards other renewable sources of energy, more hydroelectricity will be needed. In spite of tapping into various forms of energy production the need for importing electricity will still remain. Bhutan might soon get a new market for its power as besides India, Bangladesh is also interested in importing electricity from Bhutan.