January 14: The government is preparing to allow the private sector to trade electricity within a month and a half. Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal said that a work procedure is being prepared to allow the private sector to trade electricity and expressed commitment to complete the work within one and a half months.

During a meeting with a delegation of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CMI) led by its president Bishnu Kumar Agrawal on Thursday, Minister Bhusal informed that the government is preparing a working procedure to this end. “Our idea is to involve the private sector in the export of electricity. We will not allow import of electricity. You have to find a destination and export,” she said.

Minister Bhusal said that the government will prepare work procedure in a way that the private sector can sell electricity directly in the international market. She said that procedure will be formulated to facilitate those who generate and sell electricity themselves. Furthermore, she said that the private sector would be involved not only in power generation but also in transmission. 

According to Minister Bhusal, the government would take special initiative to export electricity to Bangladesh. As India is the main market for electricity generated in Nepal, she stressed on the need for the private sector to find a market in India. She said that the power purchase agreement of the semi-reservoir hydropower project will not be halted. 

Similarly, Energy Secretary Devendra Karki said that India and Bangladesh are two important destinations for export of electricity generated in Nepal. He said that they are trying to promote electricity trade through separate high level mechanisms in both the countries. 

During the discussion, Agrawal said that there is a high demand for renewable energy in Bangladesh. He urged the government to create an environment for export of electricity generated in Nepal. Although the electricity export is challenging, he said that there is a lot of potential and the private sector is ready and capable to work for it.