KATHMANDU, MAY 23

Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal has announced a new policy will be brought to increase power consumption in the domestic market.

Addressing an event in the capital city today, the energy minister said industries would be increased and e-vehicles and e-stoves would be promoted to increase electricity consumption in Nepal's domestic market.

Saying that the country's trade deficit was rising owing to huge amount of import of petroleum products, Bhusal argued that import of petroleum products could be substituted by electricity.

So far, in the current fiscal year, the country has imported petroleum products worth Rs 220 billion. Minister Bhusal also said foreign currency could be imported in the country by exporting surplus electricity. 'In the current fiscal, 39 megawatts of power is being exported. 'We are in a position to export electricity worth Rs 2 billion in the current fiscal,' he added.

A version of this article appears in the print on May 24, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.