Nepal, India to Collaborate and Develop New Cross-Border Power Lines
With respect to different power projects being built in Nepal, India along with the Himalayan nation has agreed on laying down cross-border transmission lines.
In the 4th meeting of the Joint India-Nepal Steering Committee (JSC) and Indo-Nepal Joint Working Group on power cooperation, laying of the Lumki (Nepal)-Bareilly (India) and Butwal (Nepal)-Gorakhpur (India) as well as setting up of new 400kV sub-stations at Hetauda, Butwal and Dhalkebar were discussed.
Among different decisions taken at the bilateral meeting, India’s readiness to impart training for Nepali engineers in commercial and operational issues was also discussed. Readiness has been expressed by the Power Grid Corporation of India to design training courses to meet the requirements of Nepal.
Concerns regarding delays in acquisition of forest land for Upper Karnali (900MW) and Arun-III (900MW) were expressed in the meeting. However, Nepal has said that these issues will be quickly resolved within two months.
Nepal also showed interest in LED bulbs acquisition. India has plans of installing 770 million LED bulbs over the next few years.
Nepal also conveyed its appreciation for the efforts taken by India to supply electricity to Nepal in good quantities that has reduced load-shedding this winter.
