KATHMANDU, July 23: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to resume electricity supply to six industries whose supply lines have been cut off. Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Dipak Khadka and NEA Managing Director Kulman Ghising, have agreed to reconnect electricity supply on Tuesday.
It is reported that the NEA is ready to resume electricity supply so as to collect the dues from the industries in question following discussions held in the ministry on Tuesday. As per the agreement, the NEA has given the industrialist three months for the payment of the dues.
However, some members of the board of directors are going to register their notes of dissent. Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli directed the NEA to immediately resume the electricity supply to the industries. During his speech in parliament on Sunday and Monday, he openly advocated in favor of the industrialists saying that the power line should be connected.
Following the directive from PM Oli, Energy Minister Khadka had a meeting with the NEA board of directors, requesting that electricity be connected twice. However, an agreement could not be reached between them. Nonetheless, the meeting held on Tuesday decided to resume the electricity supply, as a majority of NEA Board members agreed to do so.
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Lawmakers of the CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Center) have engaged in a war of words in the House of Representatives (HoR), making accusations and counter-accusations against each other, over the unpaid electricity bills by some leading manufacturing industries in the country.
Speaking at the HoR meeting on Tuesday, UML lawmaker Padam Giri said that despite the Maoist Center leading the Ministry of Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation for 8-10 years, issues regarding due payment of electricity bills by some industries remain unresolved.
"Since 2015, the Maoist Center has led the Ministry of Energy for the past 8-10 years. The ministers in-charge include Janardan Sharma, Mahendra Bahadur Shahi, Kamal Thapa, Barshaman Pun, Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, and briefly Sharat Singh Bhandari. After them, Pampha Bhusal took over, then Rajendra Lingden for three months, and finally Shakti Bahadur Basnet, who served continuously. Over these years, they have been in-charge of the Ministry of Energy,” Giri said. “Unfortunately, according to the Nepal Electricity Authority, over 22 billion rupees need to be collected from industries who received electricity through trunk and dedicated power lines. Now, some industries have had their power cut due to non-payment.”
Giri, also a former minister, said that if any industrialist or business fails to pay the fees required by the state as per the regulations, it is mandatory to do so.
“There is no ‘if’ and ‘but’ in this matter. However, if anyone threatens the industrialists that a certain amount of money must be paid, otherwise the power lines will be cut off, due to a bias or unmet interests, then no one has the right to do that.”
He also stated that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli shares the same opinion.
“Today, the electricity produced by us is not getting a market. On the other hand, some industrialists have to close their industries due to the lack of electricity. What could be a more unfortunate situation than this?,” he questioned, “Therefore, the PM had said to resolve this issue immediately. But the main members of the main opposition party have tried to bring chaos.”
The current government is collecting due payment of electricity from all industrialists according to the regulations, Giri claimed.
A lawmaker of the Maoist Center, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, also a former minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, said that there are legal and special provisions for resolving issues of dues for the supply of electricity through dedicated and trunk lines.
"The government had to take that course. But the government is going in the wrong direction. It talks about good governance and rules and regulations, but looks for a solution through diktats,” Basnet said.
He also said that he wanted to alert the government.
"I would like to urge the regulatory bodies to show interest in daily executive and managerial tasks and avoid becoming controversial. The energy sector is currently on the path to national prosperity," he said.
