Nepal's proposal to sell 600 MW electricity stalled as India announces to import 10,000 MW

KATHMANDU, Aug 12: Nepal's proposal to sell 600 megawatts of electricity has been stalled as India has announced to buy 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal.

The proposal made by the Nepal Electricity Authority to sell 600 megawatts of electricity has been kept on hold by India's Ministry of Electricity for a long time.

Nepal started to export electricity to India in the August of 2021. At the time, Nepal established its access to the Indian market with 39 MW of electricity. 

The Electricity Authority established a way to sell 452 MW of electricity to India at present. However, India has been pushing back the Authority's proposal to sell an additional 600 MW of electricity.

During Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda's visit to India, the Indian counterpart Narendra Modi announced the purchase of 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal. He announced that the electricity would be purchased in the next 10 years during a joint press conference in Dehli.

The Nepalese side was originally excited about the announcement. However, it was understood during the PM's visit that India had been deceiving Nepal. Even the Authority's proposal to sell two hundred and a half megawatts of electricity has not been approved so far.

The Electricity produced in Nepal is being wasted as a result. At present, a total of 2,794 MW of electricity has been connected to the National Transmission Line. The peak demand of Nepal is 2100 megawatts. Similarly, the "low demand" is around 1600 megawatts. The average demand is estimated to be around 1700 to 1800 MW.

Out of this, around 450 MW of electricity is being exported to India. The spokesperson of the Electricity Authority, Suresh Bhattarai, informed that around 100 MW capacity projects are closed for maintenance.

Similarly, due to the flood that occurred on June 16, some projects in the East were also damaged. At present, around 200 megawatts of electricity are being wasted in Nepal due to these circumstances.