Nepal can now use Indian transmission lines

India has given the green signal to Nepal for exporting hydropower to Bangladesh through India transmission lines.

Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kumar Dahal, currently on an official four-day visit to India, said on Thursday, “Export of hydropower of up to 60MW from Nepal to Bangladesh through India will commence soon, and the three countries will work out an agreement for this.”

The agreement was reached during talks between visiting Nepalese prime minister and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra told the media.

Kwatra said, “Hydropower cooperation is a very important element of not just cooperation between India and other countries but the region as a whole. So, in this case, if you were to look at power cooperation, the same between India and Bangladesh stands on its own and India and Nepal have spoken extensively about it.

“There is an excellent opportunity to use power and power trade as a very important instrument of strengthening regional connectivity. This is the first effort in that direction.”

A senior Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) official said Nepal and Bangladesh have agreed in principle to involve India for the development of 683MW Sunkoshi 3 hydropower, making the project a trilateral venture.

During the fifth meeting of the secretary-level Joint Steering Committee on energy cooperation between Nepal and Bangladesh on May 15-16 held in Patuakhali, the two countries decided that the NEA and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) would sign a joint venture agreement within the next six months to develop the project.

The project is located at the border of Ramachhap and Kavrepalanchok districts of central Nepal.

Dirghayu Kumar Shrestha, chief of transmission directorate at the NEA, said the two countries also agreed to keep space for potential inclusion of an Indian company as equity partner in the joint venture company.

During the meeting, Nepal had proposed to Bangladeshi to involve India in the project as it would help to ensure market as well as facilitate transmission of power.

Nepal and Bangladesh discussed involving India in the project, in the context that the southern neighbour has also shown eagerness to promote connectivity among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN).

As per the Joint Vision Statement on Power Sector Cooperation between Nepal and India issued in April last year, the two countries agreed to expand cooperation in the power sector and include partner countries under the BBIN framework.

Both Nepal and Bangladesh want not only to use the existing transmission infrastructure of India for trading of power but also want to develop a dedicated line for trading of power through the Indian territories.

Two countries don’t share borders and the southern neighbour’s cooperation is vital to ensure trading of power between Nepal and Bangladesh.

Officials said involvement of India in generation of power which is supposed to sell power to Bangladesh, will help secure India’s facilitation for trading of power between Nepal and Bangladesh.