Transmission line completed but power supply a far cry

Birgunj, March 26

The construction of the 132 KV Raxaul-Parwanipur Transmission Line to bring in 50 MW electricity from India for the Birgunj-Pathlaiya Industrial Corridor is over. However, the Indian side has delayed power supply, according to Chief of the transmission line project Laxmi Narayan Mukhiya.

“This is not an issue that we can sort out at our level. However, efforts are on to forge agreement in this regard at the level of higher authorities,” Mukhiya said.

The Raxaul-Parwanipur and Kushaha-Kataiya transmission line projects had started with the Indian government’s assistance of Rs 210 million last year. India’s Mohan Energy Corporation was given the contract to build the Raxaul-Parwanipur transmission line. Corporation Engineer Prince Kumar Singh said the transmission line was tested after construction was over.

Energy Minister Janardan Sharma and NEA Director Kulman Singh Ghising had assured entrepreneurs that Birgunj would be load shedding-free a month ago. However, failure to import power from India has left entrepreneurs disappointed.

Chairperson of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Birgunj Om Prakash Sharma said that industries and factories in Birgunj have been hit hard by the ten-hour-a-day load shedding.

“We were elated with Minister Sharma and Director Ghising’s pledge, but now the situation has started to deteriorate,” Sharma added. Birgunj, which collects the highest revenue in the country, is facing many problems. Prolonged hours of load shedding has adversely affected iron, liquor, cement, and paint industries, and multinational Dabur Nepal.