KATHMANDU: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)’s net profit in fiscal year 2020/21 stood at Rs 3.51 billion, a straight fall from Rs 11.68 billion in the previous year.

Presenting NEA’s financial report at a function organized to mark the 36th anniversary of the state-owned power utility on Tuesday, NEA Managing Director Kulman Ghising said the authority spent Rs 41.46 billion to purchase electricity last year. The amount was 18.05 percent more than the spending on the heading in 2019/20. According to Ghising, the rise in this expenditure was due to an increased import of electricity from India.

NEA’s financial report shows that the authority earned an operating profit of Rs 11.71 billion in the last fiscal year, which was 50.67 percent less than that of Rs 23.74 billion earned in the previous fiscal year.

In August 2020, the KP Oli-led government refused to extend the tenure of the then NEA chief Ghising, who was popular for taking NEA to a massive reform and completely ending over a decade-long loadshedding in the country. Ghising had been attributed for taking the organisation that had been reeling under heavy financial loss to earnings of over Rs 11 billion in profit just in a span of a few years.

The government had cleared NEA’s loss amounting to Rs 27 billion as of the fiscal year 2010/11. The authority’s loss in 2015/16 stood at Rs 8.89 billion.

Showing the cause of heavy decline in NEA’s profit, the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government last week removed NEA’s chief Hitendra Dev Shakya from his position and reappointed Ghising to the position. In response, Shakya on Monday filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court demanding his reinstatement as the Managing Director of the state-owned power utility.