Government plans to produce 28,500 MW of electricity within next 12 years: Minister Basnet

Kathmandu: Minister for Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet said the government was mulling an appropriate alternative for resolving prolonged disputes related to dedicated and trunk line tariffs.

At today’s meeting of the Infrastructure Development Committee under the House of Representatives, Minister Basnet said the problem was being entangled when the regulatory body remained incapable of clearly responding to the issue.

The challenging mode has come due to the state of indecision in the past, he added. Appropriate solutions will be identified to fix the issue within three days, also in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General.

It may be noted that the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has started disconnecting electricity lines of late when the long-due dispute on tariff was not settled. It has resulted in the shutdown of business and industry.

Minister Basnet said the government has charted out a plan of action to produce 28,500 MW of electricity within the next 12 years and also has signed an agreement with India to export 10,000 MW of electricity in the next 10 years.

He further said the country-generated electricity would be used to expand internal consumption and export the surplus power to India.

Also speaking on the occasion, Energy Secretary Gopal Prasad Sigdel said the overall benefits of the energy sector were put in place while signing a pact with India on energy experts.

Likewise, Water Resource and Irrigation Secretary Sushil Chandra Tiwari said they were working to finalize a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the long-stalled Pancheswor Multipurpose Project.

In the meeting, the lawmakers questioned as to why the electricity tariff of the dedicated and trunk lines was not collected for such a long period.

Lawmakers, including Madhav Sapkota, Thakur Gaire, Pradeep Poudel, CK Raut and Nisha Dangi expressed readiness to cooperate with the government to resolve the protracted dispute.

NEA’s Chief Executive Officer Kulman Ghising shared ongoing efforts for fixing the problem that surfaced in electricity tariff clearance.