Nepal and Bangladesh reach agreement on electricity tariff

Kathmandu / Mar 12: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) have reached an agreement on the tariff for the electricity to be exported from Nepal. Recently, during a World Bank program in Singapore in the presence of energy secretaries of the two countries, NElA Managing Director Kulman Ghising and BPDB Chairman Mahbubur Rahman agreed on the electricity tariffs.

Nepal is preparing to export 40 MW of electricity to Bangladesh in the first phase.

The agreement stipulates that the purchase and sale of electricity will be conducted in US dollars. Sources reveal that the agreed-upon selling rate ranges between Rs 8 to Rs 9 per unit. Nepal proposed a rate ranging from Rs 8.96 to Rs 9.28 per unit during the discussions led by NEA Managing Director Kulman Ghising and his team, including Energy Secretary Gopal Sigdel, who traveled to Dhaka, Singapore on February 21 to finalize the proposal.

Sources within the NEA said that the agreed-upon selling rate for electricity falls between 6.25 cents to 6.50 cents per unit.

According to reports from Bangladesh’s local media, State Minister for Power, Energy, and Minerals Nasrul Hamid stated last week that an agreement to import electricity from Nepal will be reached next month. This announcement was made during a meeting with the Indian representative in Bangladesh on March 5. Bangladesh has also announced plans to import 6,000 MW of electricity from neighboring countries.

Nepal also signed a long-term electricity trade agreement with India on January 4.