Finance
On Thursday, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh inked the first such cross-border energy trade accord, a long-awaited tripartite power sales agreement (PSA).
As part of the tripartite deal, Nepal would export 40 MW of electricity to Bangladesh via the Indian grid in the first phase, running from June 15 to November 15.
During the conference, India announced that it will make arrangements to send electricity to Bangladesh through Nepal.
The tripartite PSA was signed by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), and NTPC Limited, India’s largest power producing business.
This trade agreement officially opens the way for electricity exports from Nepal to Bangladesh. Nepal has been exporting electricity to India for the past three years.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Dipak Khadka, Nepal’s Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation; Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Bangladesh’s Forest, Environment, Climate Change, and Water Resources Minister; and Naveen Srivastava, Indian Ambassador to Nepal.
The NEA officials have fixed the pricing per unit of power at 6.4 cents. According to projections, Nepal will earn approximately $9.2 million per year from electricity exports. The electricity will be exported to Bangladesh via the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 kV transmission line, with the metering point located at Muzaffarpur. In December of last year, Bangladesh’s Cabinet Economic Affairs Committee approved the import of 40 megawatts of power from Nepal. The contract was previously due to be inked in July, but was postponed due to political turmoil and a change of government in Bangladesh.
Source:IANS
