India is planning to link its power grid with Saudi Arabia and the UAE through undersea cables, as per reports citing Union Minister for Power and Renewable Energy Raj Kumar Singh. The report said that Singh’s ministry has already circulated Cabinet notes for inter-ministerial consultation to expand access to reliable power and enhance the country’s energy security. India will sign bilateral agreements with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, once the Cabinet approves the decision.“The India-UAE agreement is in its final stages,” said the minister.
Earlier in January, India and the UAE announced plans to conduct a feasibility study for linking their power grids via undersea cables as part of the ‘One Sun, One World, One Grid’ initiative. Singh was quoted saying that an interconnection power grid with Saudi Arabia is currently under review. In January, Majeed Al-Moneef, Chairman, Saudi Association of Energy Economics, said that international and regional cooperation is crucial to meeting the growing power demand. Al-Moneef pointed out that creating a common grid will solve the issue of power shortage.