- The meeting held on January 22 had agreed to initiate the process of establishing a joint company within a month.

- Since a Joint Venture Agreement needs to be signed before establishing the company, a draft is being prepared.

The 12th meeting of the Nepal-India secretary-level Joint Steering Committee had agreed to initiate the process of establishing a joint company within a month to construct the 400 kV Inaruwa–New Purnia and Dododhara–Bareilly transmission lines.

Although the meeting held on January 22 had agreed to initiate the process of establishing a joint company within a month, the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation has stated that the draft of the agreement is being prepared only after two months have passed.

Ministry spokesperson Sandeep Dev stated that since a Joint Venture Agreement needs to be signed before establishing the company, its draft is currently being prepared. To construct the 400 kV Inaruwa–New Purnia and Dododhara–Bareilly transmission lines, Nepal Electricity Authority from Nepal and Power Grid Corporation from India will sign the agreement.

Dev mentioned that since an agreement needs to be signed before establishing the joint company, the process is in its final stage. “We are preparing the draft for the Joint Venture Agreement and have reached the final stage after taking suggestions and feedback from both Nepal and India,” he said. “The agreement will be signed soon, after which the joint venture company will be established.”

The Nepal-India secretary-level Joint Steering Committee meeting had agreed to complete the construction of the cross-border transmission lines—Inaruwa–New Purnia by 2028/29 and Dododhara–Bareilly by 2029/30. For this, it was agreed that the transmission line on the Nepal side would be developed under a joint venture modality, with 51% equity held by the Nepal Electricity Authority and 49% by India’s Power Grid. Similarly, for the transmission line on the Indian side, 51% equity would be held by Power Grid and 49% by the Nepal Electricity Authority.

The 400 kV Dododhara–Bareilly transmission line will cover approximately 150 kilometers on the Indian side and about 35 kilometers on the Nepali side. For the Inaruwa–Purnia line, there will be around 25 kilometers on the Nepali side and 100 kilometers on the Indian side. With the investment modality finalized, construction is set to begin with the goal of completing the Inaruwa–Purnia line by 2028/29 and the Dododhara–Bareilly line by 2029/30.

By 2029/30, the cross-border transmission lines will have the capacity to import and export up to 12,000 megawatts of electricity.

An understanding on the investment modality of the 400 kV Inaruwa–Purnia and Lamki–Bareilly transmission lines, which had remained under discussion for the past two years, was reached during the joint secretary-level meeting held on January 22.

A long-term electricity trade agreement for the export of 10,000 megawatts over the next 10 years has already been signed between Nepal and India. The Energy Development Roadmap and Implementation Plan 2025 sets a target to export 10,000 megawatts of electricity to India and 5,000 megawatts to Bangladesh by 2035.

To export electricity to India, the energy secretary-level meeting has set the goal of preparing the study report for the 400 kV Nijgadh–Motihari and Kohalpur–Lucknow transmission lines and completing their construction by 2034/35. It was also agreed that the study for the 220 kV Chamelia (Nepal)–Jaljibi (India) transmission line will be completed by next March, with construction to be finished and operational by 2027.

Source: Kantiupur