“Since 2015, with the World Bank support, the cross-border power transmission capacity increased threefold — from 2.1 gigawatts to 6.4 gigawatts — mainly driven by projects connecting India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. The World Bank is also supporting infrastructure for electricity transmission and trade between Central Asia-South Asia, to better utilize hydro and thermal generation resources."

— Hartwig Schafer, Vice President, South Asia Region, World Bank

"There is a need for a common understanding and political will among South Asian countries of regional energy trade. We also need commercial rules to govern this market as well as technical rules to enable reliable operations and cross-border investments. There has never been a better time to act than now."

— Cecile Fruman, Director, Regional Integration and Engagement, South Asia, World Bank

“Investments in hydropower are very important to Bhutan. We are looking to our bilateral trade with India, and also looking to expand to regional trade with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and anyone else who is looking to purchase power.”

— Chhewang Rinzin, Managing Director, Druk Green Power Corporation Ltd, Bhutan

“There is a market for renewables in South Asia. Hydropower can be bundled with solar power, and round-the-clock power. This will bring the cost of electricity down in the future. Demand for power is increasing and there is a need to meet renewables targets for each country."

— Kulman Ghising, Managing Director, Nepal Electricity Authority

"Energy transition is not a single-country approach, we are past that. The next era should look into cross-border energy exchanges, which are a little bit more complicated because they involve borders, diplomacy, and geographies."

— Mahua Acharya, Chief Executive, Convergence Energy Services Ltd, India

“Bangladesh has a goal of reducing emissions between 7 to 15% and adding 1 to 4 gigawatts of renewable power by 2030. We believe that cross-border trade will be instrumental in achieving those goals because of the relatively greater renewable resource which exists in the neighboring countries.”

— Nicholas Padgalskas, Chief Financial Officer, Summit Power International, Bangladesh