KATHMANDU, Dec 22: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that full preparation has been made to declare the country as completely electrified within the coming one to one and a half years.

Addressing the Inaruwa substation inauguration program in Sunsari today, the PM said that day as the 'golden day' which, he said, will arrive soon.

"Nepal's energy sector is taking strides with the guidance of the Government of Nepal, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)'s plan and the support and cooperation of Nepali people. Encouraging works are being carried out at present with the plan relating to electricity production, transmission and distribution for not only lighting the houses and settlements but also for achieving prosperity and making the country itself bright," he said.

According to the Prime Minister, the government under his leadership had freed the people of the terrifying time of darkness due to load-shedding in the past and pursued the journey ahead towards a bright Nepal.

He added that the government, a few days back, got the action plan on increasing the electricity consumption passed from the Council of Ministers in order to consume the electricity produced in the country within the country itself. As he said, this action plan has provided broader guidance for increasing electricity consumption.

PM Dahal stated that an opportunity has been created in which electricity is not only produced from rivers and distributed in the villages and cities of Nepal but it is also sold in the neighborhood to earn foreign currency.

"It is a matter of happiness that more than Rs 15 billion is made and deposited in the state treasury by exporting the surplus electricity to India. A country like ours with immense potential for hydropower development would be benefited greatly as the participating nations are ready to implement in practice the zero carbon emission policy by promoting renewable energy. We should pay special attention to this," he stressed.

The PM said he was pleased to inaugurate the automatic Inaruwa substation - the second biggest substation of the country – equipped with the GIS technology for power trade with India and Bangladesh and for supplying reliable and quality electricity by consolidating the electricity transmission and distribution system.

Prime Minister Dahal mentioned that the Inaruwa substation would work as the backbone for sub-regional and regional power trade, not only to feed the power generated from Arun and Tamor rivers as well as their tributaries to the national transmission grid and the east-west power supply line, but also to augment bilateral power trade between Nepal and India.

Sharing that with the inauguration of the substation that can supply around 4,000 MW power, the quality of power transmission and distribution, and reliability would be increased, he said a  new hope has been raised from the construction of such the largest project in the country.

PM Dahal expressed the belief that voltage problems faced by locals of this area would be improved thereby ensuring reliable supply of power. He further said "Around 98 per cent of the population has access to electricity. All preparations have been made in order to announce the country fully electrified within the next one to one-and-half-year. This golden day is arriving soon."

Clarifying that transmission lines with high capacity connecting east-west and north-south are now being constructed, he explained that expansion and strengthening of power distribution systems have been launched as the campaign across the country for reliable, sufficient and safe power supply and billions of rupees have been invested on it.

An understanding was reached for the construction of Chilime-Kerung transmission line during his China visit and tripartite agreement would be reached among Nepal, India and Bangladesh to export Nepal's green clean energy to Bangladesh, he opined.

He claimed that Nepal had drawn the international community's attention towards the agenda raised by Nepal effectively and objectively in the recently held 28th United Nations Climate Conference (COP28).

"Our country, which has an immense potential of hydro power, would largely benefit since the participant countries in the COP28 were ready to practically implement the policy of zero carbon emission promoting the usage of renewable energy," the Head of the Government said.

He pledged the earliest decision on the issues surrounding the construction of transmission lines such as usage of forest area, felling of the trees and land acquisition among others.

Mega projects in the offing

PM Dahal shared that the construction process of various mega projects in Koshi Province was about to begin. According to him, preparation was afoot to implement the 1,061 megawatt Upper Arun Hydropower Project and 635 megawatts Dudhkoshi Reservoir-based Hydropower Project after raising investment.

These projects would be implemented under leadership of the international financial institutions such as the World Bank and Asian Development among others ensuring the investment of the general public.

PM Dahal informed that the government decided to permit NEA for preparing Detailed Project Report and investment proposal of the 10,800 megawatt Karnali Chisapani Project.

Moreover, the 1,200 megawatt Budhi Gandaki Reservoir-based Hydropower Project has been taken forward, the PM said, expressing his hope that Nepal would move forward on its journey of prosperity.

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