Kathmandu, December 19
India has proposed that the price of electricity Nepal has been buying from the southern neighbour be increased.
Officials at the Ministry of Energy say India has been pushing Nepal to increase the tariff during recent informal discussions claiming it is at a huge loss. Nepal, however, has been requesting India not to change the rate for next couple of months.
Meanwhile, a meeting between energy secretaries of two countries earlier scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday has been postponed as Nepal is yet to elect a new government in the wake of recent parliamentary elections. India was planning to formally propose the hike during the meeting.
Nepal’s officials say they proposed to postpone the meeting as it will not be appropriate to decide the new price before the formation of new government. They say they do not want to be unpopular on the eve of new government formation.
Despite the postponement, the Ministry sent a technical team to India today to continue discussions about ongoing issues.
Nepal imports around 300 megawatt power from India currently.
