40 MW electricity will come from Nepal to Bangladesh via India. A tripartite agreement has been signed in this regard. More than a month after that agreement, Nepal said that India would soon allow the export of electricity to Bangladesh through its territory. This information is known from the report of Indian media The Hindu.
Nepal's Energy and Water Resources Minister Deepak Kharka visited India from 3-6 of this month. During the visit, he met India's Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Water Resources Minister CR Patil. During this time, they discussed the progress of cooperation on energy, water resources and irrigation. Besides, the use of India's power supply infrastructure in the case of power export from Nepal to Bangladesh was also discussed.
After visiting India, Deepak Kharka returned home on November 6. He spoke to reporters about the contents of the visit at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal. At that time, he said, according to the tripartite agreement, Nepal has sought permission to use Indian transmission lines to export 40 MW of electricity to Bangladesh.
Nepal has received permission from the Bangladesh government to export 40 MW of electricity through India for five months from July 15 to November 15. However, for this Nepal needs to get permission to export electricity through transmission lines from India. In this regard, Deepak Kharka said, 'Indian side has taken Nepal's request positively and has assured to give permission soon.'
Earlier, on October 3, an agreement was signed between the three countries at a hotel in Kathmandu to export electricity from Nepal to Bangladesh via India. Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Advisor to the Ministry of Environment, Forest, Climate Change and Water Resources of the Interim Government of Bangladesh was present at the signing ceremony. Representatives of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and India's NTPC Vidyut Business Nigam Limited (NVVN) signed the agreement.
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Public Relations Officer Dipankar Bar said at the time that under the agreement, 40 MW of electricity will be supplied to Bangladesh from Nepal through India for five months from June to November. Nepal's Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Deepak Kharka, Bangladesh Water Resources Secretary Nazmul Ahsan and Nepalese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ghanshyam Bhandari were present on the occasion.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan said in her speech, 'This agreement is an important step in the expansion of regional energy trade. It is not only a matter of meeting the immediate power needs, but also the process of ensuring long-term and environmentally friendly energy security of our countries.'
