Nepal and India have agreed to extend the capacity of the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur Transmission Line which is being used as the main infrastructure for the cross-border bilateral energy trade.

The southern neighbor has consented to extend the capacity of the only 400 kV cross-border transmission line enabling it to carry an additional 100 MW of electricity. Two countries reached the agreement during a Nepal-India Joint Technical Team (JTT) meeting on energy held in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday.

At present, the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur Transmission Line can carry up to 1,000 MW of electricity. After the new agreement is materialized, the transmission line will be built to carry 1,100 MW of electricity in total.

According to an official of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, the meeting mainly discussed the construction and upgradation of the high-voltage transmission lines between Nepal and India and the finalization of the investment modality. The construction modality of the proposed 400 kV Inaruwa (Nepal)-Purnia (India) and Dodhara (Nepal)-Bareilly (India) cross-border transmission lines were among the agendas of discussion in the bilateral meeting.

The Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur Transmission Line is a 140 kilometer high-voltage transmission line that connects Nepal and India. The transmission line came into operation in February 2016. It is a key part of Nepal's power import and export infrastructure. Although this transmission line has a capacity of 2,000 MW, only 1000 megawatts can be imported and exported smoothly by using the infrastructure due to the N-1 contingency – a reliability protocol that assesses a power system's ability to withstand the loss of a single component.

The two countries have set the goals to complete the Inaruwa-Purnia transmission line by the fiscal year 2027/28. The Lamki (Dodhara)-Bareilly transmission line is targeted for completion by FY 2028/29.

To carry out the feasibility of transmission lines along the Lamahi-Lucknow, Purnia-Anarmani and Nijgadh-Motihari sections were also among the agendas of the meeting. In addition, the meeting discussed the progress of the Butwal-Gorakhpur Transmission Line and the 400 kV Dhalkebar-Sitamarhi Transmission Line being constructed by the Arun III Hydropower Project.

Nepal has implemented the ‘Energy Development Roadmap-2081,’ aimed at generating 28,500 megawatts of electricity by 2035. Out of the planned production, 13,000 MW is intended for domestic consumption, and 15,000 MW is targeted for export to countries including India.

Through the strategy, the government has fixed the modality of investment plans worth USD 46.5 billion for construction of power projects along with the installation of necessary infrastructure. For this purpose, the government has planned to install 6,431 circuit km of transmission lines of 132 kV capacity, 4,061 circuit km of 220 kV capacity and 6,440 circuit km of 400 kV capacity and upgradation of substation capacity to 40,000 kVA.

As of now, India has agreed to purchase up to 1,200 MW of electricity from Nepal, while it has principally agreed to import up to 10,000 MW of electricity over the next 10 years under a long-term energy agreement.