South Asia
Bangladesh-Nepal Bangladesh signing 25-year electricity contract with Nepal
Dhaka, July 10: Bangladesh has agreed to a long-term agreement to import 40 MW of electricity from Himalayan country Nepal. An official of the Nepal Electricity Department said that the duration of this agreement will be 25 years.
The official claimed that the contract period has been finalized even though the two sides have not discussed the price of electricity yet. Through this, Nepal's electricity export to Bangladesh has been confirmed for a long time.
According to a report of Nepali media Kathmandu Post on Sunday, Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority Kul Man Ghisingh said, 'We have agreed to a 25-year electricity contract with Bangladesh. This decision has been taken on the basis of our proposal to Bangladesh."
Prabal Adhikari, director of electricity trade of Nepal Electricity Authority, said that based on Nepal's proposal, Bangladesh initially wanted to sign a five-year renewable contract. Due to uncertainty in the power sector, Dhaka showed interest in short-term contracts instead of long-term ones.
However, Bangladesh finally agreed to sign a 25-year contract, said Kul Man Ghisingh. "We have agreed on everything except the price," he said.
Nepal's electricity will go to Bangladesh via India. The power import agreement will be signed only when a tripartite agreement is executed between India, Bangladesh and Nepal in this regard.
Officials of Nepal's electricity authority say that Bangladesh is interested in solving technical and commercial issues except electricity prices first. Later, the two countries reached a consensus on those issues.
"As a sign of friendly relations with Bangladesh, Nepal has opened the way for discussion on fixing electricity prices," said Kul Man Ghisingh.
He said, "As part of our friendship, we are planning to offer a good price. Because, it will be a (G to G) agreement between the governments of the two countries. The current electricity prices in Bangladesh can be taken as an example. But the price has not been decided yet."
