Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expressed his commitment to take forward the multipurpose and mega hydropower projects of strategic importance in involvement of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

Addressing an event organized by the NEA on the 38th anniversary of the NEA here today, PM Dahal said he was particularly happy and proud to share that the incumbent government was moving ahead with the plan and thoughts to accelerate the Budhi Gandaki Hydropower project of 1,200-megawatt capacity and multipurpose Karnali Chisapani Hydro project of 10,800-megawatt in coming days.

The PM further recalled the fact that there used to be load shedding for as long as 18 hours a day and over 40 per cent of the country's population was living in darkness due to the lack of access to electricity.

He further said that the condition of industries was miserable while the daily lives of people were badly affected during the power-outage days. The financial standing of the Authority was very critical.

"It is a well-known fact that the power-outage ended forever and the NEA was made profitable by considering a host of measures such as policy reforms, and overhauling the NEA management and leadership among others," the PM explained.

He shared, “Nepal can be a center of green energy in the context when green hydrogen is commercially potential. It will help achieve the target of reducing carbon emission while developing and consuming clean and renewable energy. I urged the related sector to carry out additional research in the sector and develop the technology based on knowledge.”

He mentioned that he has given special emphasis to mutual coordination among all concerned ministries and bodies to create an appropriate environment for the establishment and operation of industries consuming more electricity and move ahead adopting maximum use of electricity as the strong basis of national economy and prosperity.

The PM said he has paved the way for selling the surplus power to other countries including India, adding "I have taken the agreements signed during the meeting with my Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, during the India visit as an important milestone of long-term power trade."

The country has been exporting around 450 megawatts of electricity and a preliminary agreement has already been signed between Nepal and India to export 10,000 megawatts of electricity in 10 years, he added.

Necessary activities have been forwarded from both Nepal and India in order to construct the 400 kV- Butwal-Gorakhpur transmission line in the near future, PM Dahal said.

He further said he has given necessary instruction to bring the draft of construction of two more transmission lines — the 400 kV Inaruwa-Purnia and Dodhara-Bareli transmission lines - through consensus within the next two months through an energy-secretary level mechanism.

The PM mentioned that final preparation was underway to sign agreement among the bodies concerned of Nepal, India and Bangladesh in order to start Nepal-Bangladesh power trading within this rainy season.

He added he is confident that a far-reaching and significant agreement would be signed regarding the energy sector during his China visit scheduled for the next month.