Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) said that it put in a request for the meeting some three weeks back and has not gotten any response from India on the meeting date. “It is urgent that we hold the meeting by end of June as the price structure is valid only till June 2009. But the Indian government has not yet responded,” an NEA official told myrepublica.com. [break]
India has been supplying 50 MW of power to Nepal through a power exchange mechanism.
However, Indian embassy officials have claimed that the Indian side has no intention of delaying the meeting. They also claim that “no vacuum will be created even if the meeting does not take place by the end of June.”
But NEA officials said that since the valid date is only till June-end, the price structure will rise due to rise in the power purchase rate.
“We have forwarded the file to the concerned ministry and are waiting for a suitable date,” an Indian embassy source said.
According to the embassy source, the power exchange mechanism was initially brought in to help the border areas and was not meant for any power trade. But India agreed to supply additional power through this mechanism in order to ease the electricity scarcity faced by Nepal. He, however, agreed that the request for a meeting was made three weeks back.
This has come at a time when NEA is facing extreme pressure to take a prompt decision on the import of 250 MW negotiated with the Power Trading Corporation (PTC) of India.
Indian Foreign Secy to visit Nepal
Indian Foreign Secretary Shiva Shankhar Menon will be visiting Nepal between June 20-21, the Indian embassy in Kathmandu said.
“The details of the secretary´s visit have been worked out with the government of Nepal,” Tsering Sherpa, spokesperson of the Indian embassy, said Monday.
Sherpa added, “The meeting is part of the process of regular high-level dialogue between the two countries.”
Menon is set to meet the President, the prime minister, the foreign minister and other top political party leaders.
akanshya@myrepublica.com
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