We urge the Indian government to go for a new arrangement as it will in the long run not only boost the Nepali power industry but also benefit itself. If the power producers in Nepal stand to gain through better rates and a bigger market, India will benefit through increased supply of power to them as more entrepreneurs are likely to invest into the sector once they feel assured that they stand to make a certain profit from their investment. Going by our installed capacity now – a meager 700 MW approximately – and the fact that we ourself are reeling under acute power cuts, a new agreement might not mean much to fast-growing and energy-hungry India right away but it surely has the potential to benefit it in the long run.
No one can take away from us the fact that we are the second-biggest country in terms of water resources and that we have the potential to produce over 40,000 MW of electricity. Even if we can exploit just half of that and supply the major portion of it to the southern neighbor, it means quite something to them. For India, it will any day make much more sense to purchase electricity for its industries and households located in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh states from us than supplying them with power from, say, its plants located in the far-flung North Eastern region.
The cost of bringing power from there to these states would easily be way higher than availing it from Nepal. Additionally, opting for hydropower instead of coal (on which India is primarily dependent on now) as far as possible would also give our neighbor something to boast about in a world where environment protection and clean energy are two hot issues.
We once again hope that India will see sense in going for a new arrangement and that our export-oriented joint-venture projects like Upper Karnali, Tamakoshi 3 ‘A’, Marshyangdi, among others, would get to sell power under a new arrangement.
Related story
Understanding Stock Market
