KATHMANDU, JANUARY 13
The government will be granting permission to the private sector to trade in power with foreign countries.
Minister of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal said that the ministry was preparing procedures for the same, which would come into effect in two months.
During the meeting with a delegation led by Confederation of Nepalese Industries, including Chairperson Bishnu Kumar Agrawal today, Minister Bhusal said that the work procedure is being prepared with the thought of guiding the private sector in inter-country power trade.
She mentioned, "We will introduce a work procedure facilitating those producing and selling power ", adding that the government would participate in helping transmission line not only in power generation. The energy minister further said that the government would take special initiative for export of power to Bangladesh.
Similarly, energy Secretary Devendra Karki said India and Bangladesh were two important destinations for power export, adding that the ministry has tried to facilitate power trade activities through separate high-level mechanisms in both countries.
Likewise, CNI Chairperson Agrawal urged the ministry to create environment for exporting power produced in Nepal to Bangladesh as there was high demand of renewable energy in Bangladesh. "Though power export is challenging, there is high potential. The private sector is ready and capable of working for it.
The government should grant permission," he said.
Agrawal also urged Minister Bhusal to form a high-level mechanism comprising government and private sector representatives to move forward power export.
Agrawal further said that the mechanism formed with the participation of private sector would work at the government to government and government to private sector level for power export.
Minister Bhusal, in response to the CNI proposal, said the government was ready to move ahead to export power through the existing transmission line to India and Bangladesh or make a new transmission line.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 14, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
