“The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for the India-Nepal Agreement on Electric Power Trade, Cross-Border Transmission Interconnection and Grid Connectivity,” said an official statement after the meeting of the Cabinet.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal in August, 2014, it was decided that negotiations on the power trade agreement would be concluded within 45 days.
Nepal is currently importing about 200 MW electricity from India annually.
“The agreement will facilitate and further strengthen cross-border electricity transmission, grid connectivity and power trade between Nepal and India,” the statement added.
It said the new cross-border transmission lines are under construction, which will more than double the transmission capacity, over the next two years.
“The agreement will also provide a framework for imports, by Indian entities, of surplus power generated from future hydroelectric plants in Nepal, on mutually acceptable terms and conditions,” it added.
“Nepal has hydro power possibilities… Now with the cross-border transmission interconnecting grid connectivity, the electricity generated there can come here and from India it can go there. It is a big framework in electricity sector between India and Nepal. It is a welcome step,” Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said after the meeting of Cabinet.
Source : ET