NEA buying electricity from India at Rs 38 per unit

Published On: March 25, 2022 11:45 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, March 25: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has said that it is going to buy electricity from India at Rs 38 per unit.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Managing Director Kulman Ghising said that it was going to buy electricity from India at that price.

Ghising said that they are preparing to supply electricity to the industrial sector by importing at high prices from today. According to Ghising, NEA is going to supply electricity to the industrial sector by buying electricity from India at an expensive rate of NRs 38 per unit.

Ghising has claimed that there will be no load-shedding in the industrial sector from Thursday night. "We will not allow load-shedding, we will not allow it to happen," he said. "This is a short-term crisis. This is not always the case.”

Ghising said that the problem of power shortage has increased all over the world and it has affected Nepal as well. Ghising informed the media that NEA is preparing to supply electricity to industries by importing up to 400 MW of electricity from India at Rs 38 per unit.

He also said that even if electricity is imported at a high price, NEA will not increase the price of electricity to the industries or to other consumers. He claimed that the NEA was trying to supply electricity to the industries by buying electricity at a high price even though it was running at a loss. The price of electricity imported from India will be Rs 38 per unit. Last time, NEA was buying electricity at an average price of INR 11.33 (Rs18) per unit.

Director Ghising said tensions between Russia and Ukraine have led to the growing problems with electricity imports around the world. He said that Nepal has to import about 400 MW of electricity for 4 to 5 months during the dry season even though it is not necessary to import electricity for 8 months. Ghising said that there is a problem in power management as during this time of the year there will be less power generation and demand increases.

"The current power shortage is not only in Nepal but also in the world. The reason for the shortage of electricity in the world is that 70 percent of the electricity is generated using coal. It is in India's policy that Nepal can import electricity generated from coal in India. In India, there was a huge shortage of coal. There are a lot of problems in all the metals and coal markets because of the Russia-Ukraine war," said Ghising.