Nepal-India Power Agreement: 10,000 MW Export Deal

Kathmandu, Jan 4 (PTI) Nepal on Thursday signed a long-term agreement that will facilitate the export of 10,000 MW of electricity to India in the next 10 years during the two-day visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the Himalayan nation.

The agreement on power export was inked in the presence of Jaishankar and Nepalese Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet during a bilateral meeting here.

Nepal's Energy Secretary Gopal Sigdel and his Indian counterpart Pankaj Agrawal inked the bilateral agreement that will facilitate the export of 10,000 MW of electricity from Nepal to India in the next 10 years.

The two countries had reached an understanding on the electricity export during Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal Prachanda's visit to India from May 31 to June 3 last year. Both sides had signed several major pacts including one on increasing New Delhi's import of power from the neighbouring country to 10,000 MW in the next 10 years from the current 450 MW.

There are multiple well-endowed rivers originating in the higher reaches of the Himalayas – the four main being Mahakali, Karnali, Sapta Gandaki, and Sapta Kosi – flowing through different valleys and then cutting across plains before entering India to meet River Ganga. India has helped Nepal develop multiple hydropower projects on these high-volume rivers and more projects are in the pipeline; and the power export agreement comes as the next step in the bilateral relations.

Later in the afternoon, Jaishankar is scheduled to meet top political leaders, including two former prime ministers, Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba, and CPN-UML chairman K P Sharma Oli.

Earlier in the morning, Jaishankar called on President Ramchandra Paudel and Prime Minister Prachanda at their respective offices.