Entrepreneurs ask government to import additional power
BIRATNAGAR, NOV 18 -
Entrepreneurs in the country’s eastern region are worried about a possible failure to import power from India that could wreak havoc on their operations with the winter season starting and extended load-shedding looming on the horizon.
With the cancellation of a meeting of the Power Exchange Committee (PEC) headed by the power utility bodies of Nepal and India scheduled to be held through Nov 14-15 in Kathmandu, entrepreneurs here are anxious about the possible consequences. The meeting was expected to discuss Nepal’s demand to import 150-200 MW of electricity from India and upgradation of cross-border transmission lines to import power.
The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the sole power utility in the country, has warned that power cuts could go up to 18 hours daily; and nervous industrialists have asked the government to manage additional power to enable them to run their factories.
Rajendra Raut, vice-president of the Eastern Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the government must make the utmost effort to import additional electricity from India. “Otherwise, there is no point in declaring 2012 as investment year,” he added.
Although India has agreed to supply 120 MW of electricity, Nepal has been receiving only 75 MW. “Considering the state of the domestic power supply, there is no alternative to importing extra power from India,” said Jagadish Rathi, coordinator of the tax and revenue advisory council committee of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI). Although additional electricity can be imported only after transmission lines are improved, it is possible to import 40 MW in the eastern region with the current infrastructure, according to Rathi.
Nepal has been importing 60 MW from Katauwa, India through a 132 KV transmission line for the eastern region. “If India provides power, we can import an additional 100 MW through this line easily,” said Laxmi Narayan Mukhiya, chief of the Duhabi Grid of the NEA.
The power requirement of the Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor is 90 MW while the total demand of the eastern region is 175 MW. However, this region is supplied with only 60 MW that comes from India.
As the multi-fuel plant in Duhabi has not been operational for a long time, the factories here are likely to hard hit by any increase in load-shedding. Entrepreneurs have been demanding that they should be provided power even if they have sto pay more.
The government has a policy to run the to reduce load-shedding, and maintenance work on the 36 MW plant has been going on since last year. “If things go as planned, it will come into operation within eight months,” said multi-fuel department chief Santosh Kumar Jha.
Source: Kantipur
