Electricity export agreement with Bangladesh paused due to political overhaul: Nepal PM Oli

Kathmandu [Nepal], August 22 : A power trade agreement between Nepal and Bangladesh has been paused for a while due to the political overhaul back there, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said.
Following the formation of a new interim government, a deal to export 40 Mega Watts electricity to Bangladesh through India will also be signed at the earliest, Oli said.
Answering the queries of the lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Thursday, the Nepali Prime Minister claimed that most of the tasks relating to power trade with Bangladesh have already been concluded and there was a plan to sign the pact in the presence of the energy ministers of Nepal, India and Bangladesh last month.
"Using the Indian transmission grid, Nepal had readied an agreement to export 40 Mega Watt electricity to Bangladesh. An agreement was to be signed on July 28, 2024 in Kathmandu between Nepal, India and Bangladesh in the presence of Energy ministers of respective countries between Nepal Electricity Authority, Bangladesh Power Development Board and India's NTPC on the Power Sales Agreement (PSA). Provided the recent political development in Bangladesh, the program got cancelled," Prime Minister Oli said.
The recent turmoil in Bangladesh often referred to as Chicken Neck of South Asia forced then Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee the country on August 5. Now a new interim government under the leadership of Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus has been formed and is functional since August 8.
The Nepali Prime Minister stated that works are underway to continue the stalled work of signing of agreement at the earliest.
"Six years after Nepal and Bangladesh agreed to the sale of electric energy and was about to be formalized and it is one of the priorities of Government of Nepal. The Government of Bangladesh also fixed the per unit price of exported electricity and has sent a letter to the Nepal Electricity Authority. After the recent political overhaul and formation of an interim government the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal and Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation of Nepal are engaged in talks to sign the deal at the earliest," Oli said.
Prime Minister Oli underscored the importance of the agreement saying that it will mark a significant milestone in sub-regional energy cooperation in South Asia, as it will be the first time Nepal exports electricity to Bangladesh.
Oli in his address in the lower house of the Federal Parliament also exerted on the power trade deal with India, a long-term plan to export 10,000 Mega Watts of electricity to India in the next decade.
"Within the next decade, Nepal has signed an agreement aiming to export 10,000 MW electricity to India under a long-term electricity sales agreement, the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation of Nepal has drafted 'Energy Development Roadmap and Action Plan- 2080.' The roadmap has aimed to export 13, 500 Mega Watts of electricity to address the domestic demand and about 15,000 Mega Watts will be exported to neighbouring countries India and Bangladesh and maybe to other countries as well with estimated power production at 28,500 Mega Watts by 2091/92 BS (2034/35). This roadmap and action plan have been presented to the Council of Ministers," Prime Minister Oli said.
Stating that the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation has prepared an Energy Development Roadmap and Action Plan 2080, Oli said Nepal's total electricity generation capacity will be 28,500 megawatts by the fiscal year 2034-35. Currently, Nepal's total electricity generation capacity stands at around 3,240 megawatts.