Cross Border Energy Transactions in India: Present and Future

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries(Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan & Sri Lanka) have unique characteristics in energy resources & demand pattern and also have very low per capita consumption. Government of India has initiated the process of strengthening the cross border cooperation in electricity with its neighbouring countries and also established the guideline for transacting the power internationally. Presently, India is electrically connected with Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar in-spite of different policies, regulatory frameworks, political commitments, inadequate transmission system interconnections and lack of regional electricity markets. In this paper, how India is transacting power with the neighbouring countries in spite of having various challenges are described. The present scenario of Cross Border Energy Transaction (CBET) has also encouraged the other neighbouring countries to build up the electrical connection with India.