Kathmandu. Nepal and India have signed an agreement to construct two more cross-border transmission lines at an investment of around Rs 21 billion under the Infrastructure Development Strategy for electricity trade.
Both sides signed a memorandum of understanding to construct a transmission line from Inaruwa of Koshi Province in the east to Purnia of Bihar of India and from Lamki of Sudurpaschim Province to Bareilly of Uttar Pradesh, India. Subash Kumar Mishra, Deputy Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and Sanjaya Kumar Gupta, International Business Chief Operating Officer, Power Grid Corporation of India signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.
Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Kul Man Ghising and Indian Minister for Power Manohar Lal Khattar signed the MoU in presence in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Both sides have agreed to establish a joint venture company for the construction of the transmission line.
A total of Rs 21.65 billion is estimated to be invested for the completion of both transmission lines. According to a study report prepared by the Nepal-India joint technical team in 2019, the initial cost of the Inaruwa-Purnia transmission line was estimated to be Rs 2.65 billion and Indian Rs 4.13 billion respectively.
Similarly, the initial cost of the Lamki-Bareilly transmission line in Nepal is estimated to be Rs 2.57 billion and Rs 6.14 billion respectively.
Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) will invest Rs 1 billion and Rs 2 billion in the company to be established to build both transmission lines.
The government is preparing to raise 20 percent of the loan and 20 percent of the loan for the construction of the transmission line.
As per the agreement, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) will have 51 percent stake in the transmission line construction company on the Nepali side while Power Grid Corporation will have 51 percent stake in the transmission line construction company on the Indian side.
