Nepal to import 30 MW of power from India

KATHMANDU: The Nepal Government will import 30 MW of power from India to meet its current electricity demands.

"The Government has taken initiative to import 30 MW power from India to meet the current electricity demands," the country's Minister for Energy, Prakash Sharan Mahat said.

Talks in this regard have already been started with the authorities concerned in India, he said.

The Minister said that the government is also planning to generate 50 MW power from thermal plants with the assistance of World Bank and upgrade the capacity of its existing power projects to meet the short-term demands.

The Government is also planning to declare its oldest hydropower project as museum, Mahat said.

The 500 KW Pharping hydropower project was built by ruler Chandra Shumsher Rana in 1908.

The project, the second oldest in South Asia, is second only to Darjeeling's power project.

He said the government is also planning to observe the centenary of the power project by organising an energy festival in Pharping area situated in the south of Kathmandu.

The project site will be developed as a tourist destination with a live museum, he said.