KATHMANDU: Nepal will import up to 80 megawatts of electricity from India beginning tomorrow to ease the ongoing energy crisis plaguing the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepali counterpart KP Sharma Oli will inaugurate the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission line using a remote control from Hyderabad House in New Delhi tomorrow to supply electricity to Nepal, Energy Secretary Suman Prasad Sharma said.
Although the state-owned power utility had earlier said it would import the power beginning today, it had not been able to do so due to delay in carrying out all the tests on the brand new transmission line, construction of which began as early as January 2007, The Himalayan Times reported. On Monday, Nepal signed an agreement with India to import additional 80 MW of electricity to ease its energy crisis.
As per the agreement, India will sell power at Nepali Rs 5.5 equivalent to Indian Rs 3.45 per unit to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). Nepal is currently importing 230 MW of electricity from India. However, the country is still facing 13 hour-long power outage daily.
During Oli’s ongoing visit to India, Nepal is likely to ask for more power supply from India to ease the current power shortage facing the country. The 140-km Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission line project, which extends from Dhalkebar in Nepal to Muzaffarpur in India, can handle capacity of up to 400 KV.
Yesterday, Nepal government declared energy emergency in the country, third time in the last eight years, to tide over the acute electricity shortage and unveiled plans to address the energy crisis within two years by importing 50 per cent of its requirements from India.
