Nepal requests India for more electricity

Kathmandu, March 25 (IANS) Nepal has requested India to provide additional power through two newly-built transmission lines.

The construction of the 132KV Kushaha-Kataiya and 132KV Raxual-Parwanipur cross-border transmission lines was completed recently, Kathmandu Post reported.

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the state-owned power utility, has requested India to provide 50 MW of electricity through each of these transmission lines.

The NEA is planning to supply electricity bought from India through industrial corridors in Nepal, such as the one located on the Bara-Parsa stretch.

Nepalese ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhaya in a meeting with Indian Minister of State for Power, Piyush Goyal, requested New Delhi to expedite the supply of electricity through the new transmission lines.

"During the meeting, issues related to supply of additional power through newly built transmission lines, review of tariff at which India is selling power to Nepal, and cooperation in the power sector were discussed," said Hari Odari, spokesman of the Nepali embassy here.

Nepal and India have reached an understanding to arrange a meeting between NEA and the Power Trade Corporation of India to settle all technical issues related to the supply of power.

"Goyal has assured that he will instruct concerned agencies in India to expedite the process," Odari said.

Hydropower generation in Nepal has plunged by almost 60 per cent as the water level in most of the river basins has fallen due to onset of the dry season.

The NEA is relying heavily on the electricity bought from India to keep the country free from power cuts.

To bridge the gap, the Himalayan nation is currently importing around 380MW of electricity from India through various cross-border transmission lines.

The country's peak electricity demand hovers at 1,240MW.

Nepal, home to around 6,000 rivers, rivulets and tributaries, has the potential to generate over 40 GW of electricity through hydropower. But as of now, the country's installed capacity stands at less than 1,000 MW.

There is a big gap in the demand and supply of electricity because Nepal has not been able to build bigger hydropower plants since the 70MW Middle Marsyangdi Hydroelectric Project in Lamjung came into operation in 2008.