Tripartite Agreement for Cross-Border Electricity Trade Halted

The tripartite agreement between Nepal, India, and Bangladesh for cross-border electricity trade, scheduled to be signed on Sunday, has been halted. Nabin Raj Singh, spokesperson for the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation (MoEWRI), informed that the agreement was postponed due to authorities from Bangladesh being unable to attend the meeting due to ongoing student-led protests in their country.

The recent deadly nationwide protests against government job quotas in Bangladesh have claimed the lives of as many as 174 individuals, leading to the postponement of the agreement. Union Power Minister of India, Manohar Lal Khattar, and State Minister of the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources of Bangladesh, Nasrul Hamid, were scheduled to visit Nepal for the signing.

MoEWRI Spokesperson Singh stated that another date for signing the agreement will be fixed soon. Bangladesh has been consistently showing interest in purchasing electricity from Nepal. Initially, Nepal has agreed to export 40 MW of electricity daily to Bangladesh during the monsoon season, spanning five months each year.