Nepal to buy 90 MW more power from India

Reeling under inordinately long power cuts, Nepal will buy 90 MW of electricity from India by the end of January, an official here said on Friday.

Nepal, facing 11 hours of power cuts daily, is at present importing 235 MW electricity from India through cross-border transmission lines.

The transmission of additional power from India would be possible with the completion of the 400-KV Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission line, said Kanaiyalal Manandhar, chief of the transmission line department of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

Nepal sells electricity to India when the water level rises in rivers in the Himalayan nation during the rainy season.

Appearing before parliament's Water Resources and Agriculture Committee, Manandhar on Friday furnished details on the present power supply situation in Nepal and steps to cope with the deepening energy crisis.

Though hydroelectricity projects in Nepal are currently producing 780 MW electricity, it is inadequate to meet the domestic demand.

The construction of Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur line was affected earlier due to unrest in the Terai region, Manandhar said.

Tata Engineering is constructing the transmission line with funds provided by NEA and its subsidiary Power Transmission Company of Nepal, Power Grid Corporation of India, Sutluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd., Cross-Border Transmission Company Ltd. and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services.

Nepal and India inked a power trade agreement in October last year.