Kathmandu: Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Pampha Bhusal has announced her plan to bring a new policy to increase power consumption in the country.

Addressing an event in the capital city on Monday, the energy minister said industrial use of electricity would be increased and e-vehicles and e-stoves would be promoted to increase electricity consumption in Nepal.

Saying that the country's trade deficit was rising owing to the huge amount of import of petroleum products, Bhusal argued that the import of petroleum products could be substituted by using electricity.

So far in the current fiscal year, the country has imported petroleum products worth Rs 220 billion.

Minister Bhusal also stated that the country could earn foreign currency by exporting surplus electricity.

“In the current fiscal year, 39 megawatt of power is being exported. We are in a position to export electricity worth Rs 2 billion in the current fiscal. In the next fiscal year, around 500 megawatts of power will be exported from which around Rs 12-15 billion will be received. After five years, we will be in a position to export power worth Rs 50 billion plus,” she said.