The Nepal Electricity Authority has paid 80 million rupees in electricity charges to India. The payment was made for electricity imported through the Nepal–India Power Exchange Committee (PEC).

However, the per-unit rate for electricity import and export determined by the 16th meeting of the PEC has neither been approved by the Board of Directors of the Authority nor endorsed by the Regulatory Commission.

According to sources at the Authority, a payment of 80 million rupees has been made for electricity imported through the PEC, and an additional amount of around 190 million rupees is in process.

In the meeting held in India on February 12, 2025, the per-unit rate for electricity imported and exported through the 132 kV transmission line was set at 8.1 Indian rupees (equivalent to 12 rupees 96 paisa Nepali).

Manadevi Shrestha, Secretary and Spokesperson of the Electricity Regulatory Commission, stated that although the Authority had sent a letter requesting approval for the electricity price agreed through the PEC some time ago, it has not yet been approved. “Some time ago, we received a letter requesting approval for the import-export tariff rate,” she said, “but we wrote back to the Authority asking them to send a letter confirming that the rate had been approved by the Authority’s Board of Directors. Since then, there has been no further development.”

The meeting co-chaired by then Managing Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority, Kulman Ghising, and Ashok Kumar Rajput, Member (Power System) of India’s Central Electricity Authority, had set the rate. According to the Nepal Electricity Authority, the price for electricity exchanged through the 132 kV transmission line in 2025 was fixed at 8.1 Indian rupees per unit (equivalent to 12 rupees 96 paisa Nepali). In 2024, the rate for electricity exchanged through the 132 kV transmission line was 7.98 Indian rupees per unit (equivalent to 12 rupees 77 paisa Nepali).

The meeting also set the rate for electricity exchange through the 33 kV transmission line at 8.78 Indian rupees per unit (equivalent to 14 rupees 4 paisa Nepali). In 2024, the rate for electricity exchanged through the 33 kV transmission line was 8.65 Indian rupees per unit (equivalent to 13 rupees 84 paisa Nepali). Nepal has set the rate for electricity imported and exported through the 11 kV transmission line at 9.41 Indian rupees per unit (equivalent to 15 rupees 5 paisa Nepali).

Spokesperson of the Authority, Rajan Dhakal, stated that the payment was made based on the opinion of the Office of the Attorney General. “The Board of Directors of the Authority had decided to acknowledge the PEC agreement and to seek the opinion of the Office of the Attorney General, through the Ministry of Energy, on whether the agreement could be implemented,” he said. “The Attorney General opined that since the agreement was made between the two countries, it must be implemented.”

According to the opinion of the Office of the Attorney General, the Ministry also advised implementing the agreement as per the PEC, so the Authority made the electricity payment, he stated. Energy Minister Deepak Khadka had requested a 24-hour clarification on which body’s approval was obtained before attending the PEC meeting on February 25, 2025.

Minister Khadka had also asked, “According to Subject Numbers 20 and 23 of the Schedule of the Government of Nepal (Performance) Regulations, 2064, how was the authority obtained to sign the memorandum of understanding prepared through bilateral talks, which increases financial liabilities, without obtaining the Ministry’s consent on matters that must be submitted to the Government of Nepal, Cabinet?”

On March 24, 2025, the Cabinet meeting dismissed Ghising from the position of Managing Director of the Authority. The Authority stated that the Attorney General had cleared the way for implementing the agreement, noting that taking action for not having the authority to sign the agreement is a separate matter.

Source: Kantipur