PTC signs MoU with Nepal for power supply

Kathmandu: Power Trade Corporation of India (PTC) has agreed to supply up to 60MW of electricity to meet the prevailing shortages in Nepal.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Nepal Electricity Authority and PTC here at a function following the conclusion of the third Power Summit 2008. Arjun Kumar Karki, Managing Director of NEA, and Tantra Narayan Thakur, chairman of and managing director of PTC India signed the MoU to this effect.

According to a press statement issued at the end of signing the MoU, PTC would be supplying up to 60 MW power on the round-the-clock basis on commercial principles at a tariff mutually agreed between the two sides.

Out of the total 60 MW power, up to 40 MW power will be supplied through Duhabi-Kataiya 132 KV transmission line and 20 MW through Tanakpur-Mahendranagar 132 KV transmission line.

The power supply through Duhabi-Kataiya transmission line will commence after necessary repair works by NEA on the Nepal portion of transmission line, which had broken down due to recent floods in the Koshi River.

The supply would be over and above the power supply to Nepal through Indo-Nepal Power Exchange Committee agreement and will help NEA improve power supply situation, particularly in the Kathmandu Valley.

NEA officials said the 20 MW power supply from the Tanakpur-Mahendranagar transmission line would be able to meet power demand up to Butwal and the remaining 40 MW would meet power requirement in Kathmandu and eastern part of the country.

Officials from both the sides had held a meeting about tariff of the power to be supplied by the PTC, but they could not reach an understanding as PTC’s offer was too high.

An NEA official said that the price for the power would be fixed on the “spot market basis”. It has been agreed that no additional taxes would be levied on the power supplied by the PTC. Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for Commerce and Power of Government of India, said the MoU was signed for a short term period considering immediate requirement of power for Nepal.

Addressing the concluding ceremony of the two-day Power Summit 2008, Ramesh said situation would change in Nepal’s favour after the planned hydel projects such as Arun III and West Seti came into operation.

“We want to work with Nepal seriously to generate 10,000 MW of electricity as envisaged by the Government of Nepal,” said Ramesh. He said India would be generating around 78,000 MW of power and only 14 per cent of it would be generated by the private sector. He said public-private involvement should be the driving force to harness immense potential of hydropower.

On the occasion, Water Resources secretary Shankar Prasad Koirala said Nepal would improve legal and institution mechanism and Electricity Act and NEA Act to encourage more private investment in hydropower sector.

He also informed that the Nepal-India joint technical team is meeting shortly to discuss Pancheshwor, Koshi High Dam and other projects in the pipeline.

Earlier today, addressing a function at the Reporters’ Club, Minister for Water Resources Bishnu Poudel said small power plants would be built on collective participation of general
people while medium and mega power projects would be handled by domestic and foreign investors.

• High-level energy committee headed by the PM to be set up
• De-licensing of up to 3 MW of power plants in the offing
• Environment Impact Assessment of up to 50 MW of hydropower to be waived of
• VAT on the power plants to be waived of for a certain period