Dhaka, Oct 03 (V7N): Bangladesh, Nepal, and India have signed a tripartite agreement today to enable cross-border electricity trade between Kathmandu and Dhaka.

Under the agreement signed in Kathmandu, Nepal will export its surplus electricity to Bangladesh through Indian transmission lines from June 15 to November 15 every year. In the initial phase, Nepal will export 40 MW of hydroelectric power to Bangladesh via Indian territory, according to a report by PTI from Kathmandu.

The agreed rate for the electricity is 6.4 cents per unit, with Nepal expecting to earn approximately USD 9.2 million annually from the trade, according to officials from the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Bangladesh Power Development Board Chairman Mohamad Rizwan Karim, NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising, and National Thermal Power Corporation Vidyut Byapar Nigam CEO Deino Naran of India. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Bangladesh’s Adviser for Forest, Environment, Climate Change, and Water Resources Syeda Rizwana Hasan, alongside Nepal's Energy Minister Deepak Khadka and Minister of State for Energy Purna Bahadur Tamang.

This agreement marks the first time Nepal will sell electricity to a third country, as its previous energy trade was exclusively with India.

As per the deal, the electricity will be transmitted through the 400KV Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur cross-border transmission line into India, which will then transfer an equivalent amount of power to Bangladesh.

Nepal expects to generate around Nepalese Rs 330 million from this electricity export deal.

END/MSS/AJ