The longstanding standoff between the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and defaulting industries over the dues for the usage of dedicated feeders and trunk lines seems likely to be resolved after the government and the industrialists agreed on the proposal forwarded by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

In a meeting with Prime Minister Sushila Karki on Monday, the representatives from the umbrella organisation of the private sector offered the government to pay the first installment of the dues as security deposit on condition that the state-owned power utility reconnects the electricity lines to manufacturing plants. Speaking at a press conference organized by the FNCCI on Tuesday, the industrialists expressed their consent over the federation’s proposed midway solution.

Raghu Nandan Maru, president of the Nepal Cement Manufacturers’ Association, said they have taken the FNCCI’s offer positively. “We are ready to pay the first installment of our dues only as a security deposit to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA),” he said.

On behalf of the industrialists, the FNCCI has proposed the government to consider the first installment out of 28 breakdown amounts as deposit. Similarly, the manufacturers have demanded the NEA to resume electricity supply to their production plants after they pay the portion of the due.

FNCCI President Chandra Prasad Dhakal said the accord has been reached on the issue following a long discussion with high level government authorities. “An understanding has been reached between the private sector and the government bodies to resolve the issue,” Dhakal said.

He added that the private sector has also demanded the government to form a judicial commission to solve the issue permanently. “The commission is needed also to address the economic problems like reduction in employment and hurdles in production and export from the country, surfaced in the new scenario,” said Dhakal.

In August 2015, the NEA introduced a premium tariff for factories using electricity through dedicated feeders and trunk lines, citing frequent power outages at the time. The decision required high-energy-consuming industries to pay premium charges on top of the regular fees for uninterrupted power supply.

The NEA has been struggling to recover these dues for more than a decade after the defaulting firms refused to pay the premium charge for using electricity during the peak time of loadshedding.

After the industrialists did not appear for settlement of dues even after the end of the recent deadline on October 19, the NEA disconnected electricity supply lines to 25 manufacturing firms, but later reconnected the lines to two industries upon payment of first installment.