Kathmandu, Feb. 20: The tenth meeting of Nepal-India Energy Secretary-level Joint Steering Committee (JSC) has taken some important decisions on cross-border electricity trade and in the expansion of electric transmission lines between the two countries.

Secretary at the Ministry for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation of the government of Nepal Dinesh Kumar Ghimire and Secretary at  the Ministry of Power of the government of India Alok Kumar, led the meeting held in  Mount Abu in Rajasthan, India on Saturday, and decided to forward the construction of high-capacity transmission lines for cross-border electricity trade.

In the meeting, the recommendations made by the joint secretary-level joint working group between the two countries, which was concluded on Friday, were discussed.

Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority Kul Man Ghising said that the meeting of the joint steering committee was a milestone for electricity generation, transmission and trade.

MD Ghising, who participated in the meeting, said that India has positively accepted the proposal made by Nepal to export electricity to Bangladesh using India’s transmission grid, and it has decided to give necessary consent after sending the name of the hydropower project to be exported.

“It has been decided to send the proposal of the project to export electricity to Bangladesh to the Central Electricity Authority of India for approval and after necessary examination by the Authority, and decided to give consent within the scope of the electricity import/export (cross border) guidelines issued by the government of India,” said Ghising.

“Since we are currently getting approval for one year to sell electricity through competition in the day-ahead market of Indian Energy Exchange Limited (IEX), we proposed to extend it beyond one year. It has agreed to review by checking it. 

Similarly, the meeting has also been agreed to process and approve the proposals submitted by us for the export of electricity for other additional projects,” he said.

Ghising said that on the basis of the Nepal-India inter-government agreement, the proposal for long-term electricity export from Nepal has been made, and the Indian side is taking it positively and informed that the necessary decision would be taken after receiving the proposal from Nepal.

The meeting decided that as so far Nepal was only importing electricity from Tanakpur, now it would be allowed to export as well.

The meeting agreed to supply 70 MW from April to June and 80 MW from July to March from Tanakpur-Mahendranagar 132 kV single circuit transmission line in both directions.

This has opened the way for hydropower projects located in various districts of Sudurpashchim Province to be exported to India’s central transmission system during dry season, MD Ghising said. “In addition, the joint technical group has been directed to find possible options to expand the capacity of the existing transmission line or to build a new transmission line of 200 kV.”

For electricity import and export between Nepal and India, it has been agreed to implement the Inaruwa-Purnia and New Lamki (Dodhara)-Bareilly 400 kV transmission lines by completing the construction in the year 2027-28 and 2028-29 respectively.

Ghising said that it was agreed to increase the electricity capacity being imported-exported from 600 MW to 800 through Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 kV first cross-border transmission line which is currently in operation.

Nepal had proposed to construct these transmission lines in the investment modality of the new Butwal-Gorakhpur transmission line. It has been agreed to finalise the investment modality soon.

Similarly, both the parties have agreed to conclude the new Butwal-Gorakhpur line implementation and transmission service contract soon and to complete the construction of the line by March 2025.

The Indian side drew the Nepali side’s serious attention over the issues, including land acquisition, obstruction of locals to the construction of Arun III transmission line in the districts of Bhojpur, Khotang and Udayapur, among others.

In addition, the Indian side has made a request to facilitate the construction of Koshi Highway, citing that construction schedule would be affected if large equipment including power transformers could not be delivered due to delay in the construction of Koshi Highway.

The Nepali side has promised to solve the problem and take necessary steps to create an environment to complete the project within the stipulated time. The construction of the project is targeted to be completed by March 2024.