Nepal and India have reached an agreement for the construction modality of the cross-border transmission line.

The agreement was reached on the modality for the construction of a transmission line required to export 15,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal to India and Bangladesh by 2035 at a secretarial meeting between Nepal and India in New Delhi on Tuesday.

In the secretarial meeting between Nepal and India, Suresh Acharya, secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, and Pankaj Agarwal, secretary of the Ministry of Power of India, signed a memorandum of understanding. With the secretary-level talks and agreement between the two countries, the process of constructing the transmission line will now advance.

Earlier, Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation Deepak Khadka had held discussions with Indian government ministers on the construction of the cross-border transmission line during his visit to India from November 3 to 6. In the same meeting, he said that the construction of the transmission line for the supply of electricity should be accelerated, stating that India had already signed a power purchase agreement of 10,000 megawatts in 10 years.

Along with the meeting, the 12th meeting of the Joint Steering Committee of Nepal and India was held on January 22 to advance the construction of the transmission line. In that meeting, it was agreed to construct the cross-border transmission line and further facilitate the import and export of electricity. The same agreement has been approved by the secretary-level meeting between the two countries.

The secretary-level meeting held discussion on various aspects of electricity transmission between Nepal and India, including existing transmission lines, under-construction and proposed cross-border connections, Indian-invested hydropower projects, and related infrastructure.

The secretary-level meeting has agreed to complete the construction of two 400 kV transmission lines—from Inaruwa (Nepal) to Purnia (India) and from Dodhara (Nepal) to Bareilly (India) by 2030. A joint company will be established on both sides, with Nepal Electricity Authority and India’s Power Grid Corporation Limited as major shareholders.

After the agreement between the two countries, Nepal will hold a 51 percent stake in the joint company on its side, while India will hold 51 percent on its side. The remaining 49 percent of shares in each company will be owned by the other country.

Similarly, it has been agreed that the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the 220 kV Chameliya-Jauljivi double-circuit transmission line will be completed by 2025. The capacity of the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission line will also be increased from 800 MW to 1,000 MW.

Additionally, it has been agreed that the construction of the 400 kV Nijgadh-Motihari and Kohalpur-Lucknow transmission lines is targeted for completion by 2035. The agreement has been approved by a secretary-level meeting between the two countries.

Earlier, Nepal and India signed a long-term electricity trade agreement to export 10,000 MW over the next decade. Additionally, Nepal has already begun exporting 40 MW of electricity to Bangladesh.

Along with Secretary Acharya, the meeting was attended by Joint Secretary of the Energy Ministry, Sandeep Kumar Dev; Director General of the Department of Electricity Development, Nabin Raj Singh; Managing Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), Kulman Ghising; Deputy Managing Director of the NEA, Dirghayu Kumar Shrestha, and others from Nepal.