On the day of Laxmi Puja of Tihar this year, the electricity demand in the country has been recorded as 1,438 megawatts. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has stated that the demand has increased by 133 megawatts compared to last year at 6PM on Sunday, the day of Laxmi Puja.

The electricity demand on the day of Laxmi Puja on October 24 last year was 1,305 megawatts. this figure excludes industrial customers, given the closure of industries and factories during the Tihar festival.

This year, the NEA had projected the high demand to reach 1,357 megawatts and managed the electricity supply accordingly.

The demand for the Laxmi Puja day was produced and supplied from power plants within the country. Five hundred and 17 megawatts of electricity saved after meeting the domestic electricity demand has been exported to India during the peak of demand period.

Last year, during the high demand of Laxmi Puja, only 406 megawatts were exported. On the day of Laxmi Puja, total electricity demand in the system has been recorded as 1,955 megawatts.

The NEA's Executive Director Kulman Ghising went to the control room of the Load Dispatch Center at Syuchatar along with a team of Deputy Executive Directors to get information about electricity demand and supply management on the day of Laxmi Puja.

Executive Director Ghising said that seven years ago, 254 megawatts were being imported to meet the demand on the day of Laxmi Puja, but now it is a historic leap in the energy sector to reach a situation where domestic production is used to export electricity.