Kathmandu, January 23
A meeting of the joint committee comprising energy and water resources officials of Nepal and India has begun in Pokhara on Wednesday.
It is the sixth meeting of the committee comprising secretaries and joint secretaries of the concerned departments.
During the meeting, Nepal will float a proposal that it will ‘book’ the new Butwal-Gorakhpur 400KV intercountry transmission line for its own use for next seven years, according to the officials at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation.
It means Nepal will tell India that it will begin exporting electricity via the new transmission line only after seven years.
This is the second transmission line connecting the two countries. Nepal has been ‘booking’ the first transmission line, 400 KV Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur, for 25 years.
Meanwhile, it is likely that the two countries will forge an agreement on energy banking during the meeting. Officials have already finalised a draft of the agreement.
