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Published : 14 Jun 2026, 05:53 PM
Nepal’s plan to increase electricity exports to Bangladesh has been stalled after India declined approval for an additional 20MW, citing constraints on cross-border transmission capacity, energy officials said.
According to The Kathmandu Post, India’s Central Electricity Authority (CEA) withheld clearance for the proposed increase, saying the cross-border transmission corridor lacks sufficient capacity to carry additional load.
Officials noted that the process has stalled pending a revised tripartite agreement and further reviews by the Nepal–India Energy Secretary-level Joint Steering Committee (JSC).
Nepal exports its surplus hydropower to India and Bangladesh during the wet monsoon season, while reverting to power imports from India during the winter.
A bilateral JSC meeting held in Dhaka on Nov 27, 2025 had agreed in principle to scale up the power trade by adding 20MW to the operational 40MW framework.
Following the decision, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) formally approached NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited India (NVVN) to clear the additional transmission.
However, NVVN subsequently notified the NEA that the 1,000MW capacity India–Bangladesh grid corridor could not absorb the additional allocation.
“This time, only 40MW of electricity will be exported to Bangladesh. Although a tripartite agreement for the additional 20MW had not yet been completed, like the earlier 40MW arrangement, we had initiated the process through NVVN at India’s CEA,” Tharka Bahadur Thapa, director of the NEA’s electricity trade department, told the Kathmandu Post.
“But the response was that the transmission line does not have capacity for the additional 20MW.”
The proposed expansion must now wait for decisions from the Nepal–India JSC and the secretary-level Joint Working Group (JWG) meetings in Nepal, neither of which have been scheduled yet.
The initial 40MW export model was unlocked on Jan 5, 2024 through a JSC agreement that permitted Nepal to utilise Indian territory for transmission in line with New Delhi's cross-border trade guidelines.
This led to a formal tripartite pact signed on Oct 3, 2024 between the NEA, NVVN, and the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), enabling seasonal exports between Jun 15 and Nov 15 annually.
Once the extra 20MW secures India's regulatory nod and a fresh tripartite agreement is executed, total exports to Dhaka will rise to 60MW under the same commercial terms.
Nepal officially transmitted its first batch of power to Bangladesh for a 12-hour window on Nov 15, 2024.
The electricity travels from Nepal's Dhalkebar to Muzaffarpur in India via a 400kV line, before crossing into Bangladesh through the 400kV Baharampur–Bheramara grid link.
The current 40MW supply is sourced from the Trishuli and Chilime hydropower stations. While these plants hold general clearance to sell power to India, they require a distinct, separate approval from New Delhi before the additional 20MW can be channeled to Bangladesh.
The agreed tariff stands at 6.40 US cents per unit, which will remain unchanged for the additional supply.
To date, Nepal holds aggregate approvals to export 1,165MW of electricity combined to India and Bangladesh.
While trade with India is settled in Indian rupees across competitive spot and real-time markets, transactions with Bangladesh are denominated in US dollars.
New Delhi first opened its market to Nepalese power in October 2021 with a modest 39MW approval, which has since grown to a ceiling of roughly 1,200MW.
During the first 10 months of the 2026 fiscal year, Nepal’s electricity exports to India and Bangladesh surged to NPR 20.99 billion, up from NPR 13.10 billion recorded during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.
