Nepal will export only 40 megawatts (MW) of electricity to Bangladesh from June 15, as India has not granted approval for an additional 20 MW export, energy officials said.

The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) of India has withheld approval due to transmission line capacity constraints.

Officials added that further procedures, including a revised or new tripartite agreement and a decision from the Nepal-India Energy Secretary-level Joint Steering Committee (JSC), are still required, reports The Kathmandu Post.

Nepal has been exporting surplus electricity to India and Bangladesh during the monsoon season. In winter, however, it imports electricity from India.

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had formally requested NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited India (NVVN) to facilitate the additional 20 MW export. However, NVVN later stated that the India-Bangladesh transmission line, with a capacity of 1,000 MW, could not accommodate the additional allocation.

“This time, only 40 MW of electricity will be exported to Bangladesh. Although a tripartite agreement for the additional 20 MW had not yet been completed, like the earlier 40 MW arrangement, we had initiated the process through NVVN at India’s CEA,” said Tharka Bahadur Thapa, director of NEA’s electricity trade department.

Officials said the proposed expansion will now require further decisions from the upcoming Nepal�"India JSC meeting and the secretary-level Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting in Nepal. However, these meetings have not yet been scheduled.

On January 5, 2024, the JSC meeting reached an agreement in principle allowing Nepal to export 40 MW of electricity to Bangladesh using India’s transmission system, in line with India’s import-export guidelines, through a tripartite agreement between the NEA, NVVN and the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).

On October 2, 2024, another JSC meeting between Nepal and Bangladesh agreed to proceed with the tripartite deal.

The following day, a tripartite agreement was signed among the NEA, BPDB and NVVN. Under this agreement, 40 MW of electricity has been exported annually from June 15 to November 15.

Nepal first exported electricity to Bangladesh for 12 hours on November 15, 2024. Nepal’s electricity is transmitted through the Dhalkebar�"Muzaffarpur 400 kV transmission line into India, and then through the Baharampur�"Bheramara 400 kV line into Bangladesh.

Nepal has been selling electricity to Bangladesh at 6.40 US cents per unit, a rate that will also apply to the additional 20 MW, according to the authority.

India first approved electricity imports from Nepal in October 2021, allowing 39 MW. Nepal has since secured approval to export around 1,200 MW to India.

In the first ten months of the current fiscal year, Nepal exported electricity worth Rs20.9952 billion to India and Bangladesh. In the same period of the previous fiscal year, exports stood at Rs13.1033 billion.