By Akanshya Shah and Dinesh Karki

Nepal has started to import 20 megawatt of electricity through the Tanakapur point beginning January 1 as per the agreement between Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and the Power Trade Corporation (PTC) of India .

The NEA has said that the supply will be up to Lamahi. “The 20 MW power has been supplied to the western part of Nepal up to Lamahi,” Dr Jibendra Jha, the Managing Director of NEA, told myrepublica.com on Saturday.

The rate per unit of the imported power from the West Bengal state of India is a whopping Rs 10.72 (IRs 6.70).

The Systems Department of NEA has said that there will, however, be no significant difference in loadshedding hours in West Nepal even after the import.

“The existing two hours loadshedding will continue,” Sher Singh Bhat said.

The NEA is now trying to negotiate an import of another 30 MW from India to lessen the loadshedding burden facing the country. The additional power will be imported at the same rate from West Bengal .

“If we get power from West Bengal the price will remain the same, but if we bring it from Bihar the price may go down,” Jha said.

However, NEA sources indicate that there is “very low possibility” of importing power from Bihar as the state is itself facing an acute shortage of electricity.

Of the 60 MW request originally made by NEA (some two months back), the Indian side has already denied 30 MW supply. Thus the negotiation now is only for the remaining 30 MW.

Similarly, the Indian side also turned down the government´s request for a 100 MW power at concessional rate. The request was made during Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal´s India visit.

Ministerial-level talks uncertain

Meanwhile, the ministerial-level water talk, which was scheduled to be held in January, has become uncertain. The meeting of Joint Ministerial-level Commission on Water Resources (JMCWR) to be held this month in Delhi was finalized during the Joint-Committee on Water Resources (JCWR) meeting in Pokhara in November. “We still haven´t finalized the date for the meeting,” Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat told myrepublica.com.

The Indian embassy in Kathmandu has, however, said that the delay has been caused as Nepal is yet to hold the Joint-Standing Technical Committee (JSTC) meeting in Kathmandu as per the understanding reached during JCWR meeting.

“We will hold the JMCWR after Nepal holds the JSTC meeting,” Apoorva Srivastava, the spokesperson of the embassy, told myrepublica.com.

The JSTC is a quarterly meeting and was last held in December in Delhi . Nepal did not hold the JSTC in March.

Source: Republica