Nepal’s planned expansion of electricity exports to Bangladesh has been curtailed after India declined approval for an additional 20 megawatts (MW).
As a result, Nepal will continue supplying only 40MW of electricity to Bangladesh starting 15 June, instead of the proposed 60MW. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) of India reportedly withheld approval, citing limitations in transmission line capacity.
Energy officials on Sunday said that further procedural steps are still required before any increase in supply can be implemented. These include revising or signing a new tripartite agreement and obtaining decisions from the Nepal-India Energy Secretary-level Joint Steering Committee (JSC). No date has yet been set for these meetings.
The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had earlier requested India’s NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN) to facilitate the additional electricity export. However, NVVN later indicated that the existing India-Bangladesh transmission corridor, which has a capacity of around 1,000MW, could not accommodate the increased allocation.
According to officials, the current arrangement allows Nepal to export 40MW of surplus hydropower to Bangladesh during the monsoon season, when domestic generation is high. In contrast, Nepal relies on electricity imports from India during the winter months.
The existing power trade is governed by a tripartite agreement between Nepal, India and Bangladesh, under which electricity flows through India’s transmission network before reaching Bangladesh via cross-border high-voltage lines.
The export route runs through the Dhalkebar–Muzaffarpur 400 kV line into India and then onward to Bangladesh via the Baharampur–Bheramara 400 kV line.
Nepal currently sells electricity to Bangladesh at 6.40 US cents per unit. Officials confirmed that this tariff would remain unchanged even if future expansion is approved.
While Nepal has successfully expanded electricity exports to India in recent years, reaching over 1,200MW in approved capacity, the planned increase to Bangladesh now remains pending further diplomatic and technical clearances.
