Nepal and India have agreed to share cost on the ‘New Butwal-Gorakhpur Interstate Transmission Line’. Similarly, a tri-partite meeting of Nepal, India and Bangladesh would be held within three months. The meeting is to dwell on the issues of exporting electricity produced in Nepal to Bangladesh.

The joint direction committee meeting involving Energy Secretaries from Nepal and India agreed to construct the second interstate transmission line, shared Energy Secretary, Dinesh Kumar Ghimire, from Bangalore, India, where the meeting took place.

The Dhalkebar-Mujaffapur interstate transmission line has already come into operation. As per the recent agreement, Nepal and India would share fifty percent cost each on the construction of the ‘New Butwal-Gorakhpur Interstate Transmission Line’, added Secretary Ghimire.

The project to have equal investment from the two countries will set up a joint company within three months. Nepal Electricity Authority and Power Grid Corporation of India agreed to set up a joint company with equal investment. The investment would, however, be made on soft loan (80 %) and capital (20%). Implementation of a transmission system agreement would also be held in six months.

The two-day Secretary-level meeting was led by Ghimire from Nepal and his counterpart SC Garg from the Indian government. Ghimire observed that the agreement is a historic one.

Bangladesh has made a commitment to import 9,000 MW electricity from Nepal by 2040. The government has attached high importance to this project as it is also linked to the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the US agency.