November 14: The private sector been attracted towards reaping benefits from power trade after the state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) obtained approval for electricity sale in the Indian energy market.    
Stakeholders representing the private sector have long been demanding approval for power trade.    
It may be noted that the NEA has been officially exporting 39-MW electricity to India since November 3. Stating that the power trade deal has opened up new avenues, the private sector demanded the government to provide opportunity and permission to the energy producers to enter the fray.    
Five different companies had submitted applications to the Ministry of Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation demanding license for power trade. In response, the ministry said approval to that end would be granted once the legal arrangement was in place.    
Efforts are being made to address the issue in the new Electricity Act. The issues ranging from energy sale to export have been included in the Electricity Bill tabled at the National Assembly.    
The private sector companies have not obtained approval in absence of legal arrangement.    
At a programme organized by the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN), an association of energy producers representing the private sector of Nepal, Minister for Energy Pampha Bhusal said the government would grant approval to the private sector if they presented fact-based premises for energy trading.    
She asked all stakeholders to come up with convincing facts regarding power trade. “Only arguments and debates do not work, come up with confidence that they can trade the power produced in the country,” said Minister Bhusal. --RSS