Kathmandu, Aug 23 (Representative) Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli said on Thursday that the government is working to sign the agreement to export 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh through India, media reports said. Responding to the queries of the lawmakers in the House of Representatives, he said that most of the tasks relating to the power trade with Bangladesh have already been concluded and there was a plan to sign the pact in the presence of the Energy ministers of Nepal, India and Bangladesh last month. The scheduled event was cancelled due to political unrest in Bangladesh, The Kathmandu Post reported. The then Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country on August 5 and Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus became the interim Prime Minister of the country on August 8. “A Power Sales Agreement (PSA) was set to be signed on July 28 in Kathmandu between the Nepal Electricity Authority, the Bangladesh Power Development Board, and India’s NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited in the presence of the Energy ministers from Nepal, India, and Bangladesh,” Oli said.
The Prime Minister gave the details in the House meeting responding to the question asked by former Foreign minister N P Saud. He noted that the agreement, which has been six years in the making since the energy cooperation between Nepal and Bangladesh was established, remained a top priority for the Nepali government. A meeting of the ‘Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase’ in Bangladesh in the second week of June had approved a proposal to import 40 megawatts of electricity from Nepal, according to local media. “Given the recent developments in Bangladesh and the formation of an interim government there, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation of Nepal are working to finalise the agreement as soon as possible,” he added. Prime Minister Oli underscored the importance of the agreement saying that it will mark a significant milestone in sub-regional energy cooperation in South Asia, as it will be the first time Nepal exports electricity to Bangladesh.
Looking ahead, Prime Minister Oli presented details as to how the government is working on a long-term plan to export 10,000 megawatts of electricity to India over the next decade. Stating that the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation has prepared an Energy Development Roadmap and Action Plan 2080, he said Nepal’s total electricity generation capacity will be 28,500 megawatts by the fiscal year 2034-35. “Out of 28,500 megawatts, around 13,500 megawatts will be used to address the domestic demand, and about 15,000 megawatts will be exported to neighbouring countries India and Bangladesh and may be to other countries as well. This roadmap and action plan have been presented to the Council of Ministers,” he said. Currently, Nepal’s total electricity generation capacity stands at around 3,240 megawatts.