Kathmandu: The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources has said its serious attention was drawn to a news report about power cuts in Nepal, linking the issue to relations with India with featuring a photo of the Prime Minister.
In a press statement issued on Thursday, Ministry’s Joint Secretary and Spokesperson Chiranjeevi Chataut objected to the news published by an online portal, which claimed that India had cut power supplies to Nepal during peak hours due to deteriorating relations between the Nepal Government and India. The article cited high-level sources within the Ministry and its employees.
“We strongly condemn this fabricated and baseless news, which appears to be aimed at undermining the long-standing friendly relations between Nepal and India,” the Ministry said in the statement.
The Ministry clarified that domestic power generation decreases during the dry season, leading to a gap between electricity demand and supply in Nepal. To meet the demand, electricity is imported from India. However, due to high domestic demand in India, electricity supply from India’s Energy Exchange Market has not been available during peak hours.
Despite this, the Nepal Electricity Authority has the option to negotiate directly with Indian power trading companies, conduct bidding processes, or engage under the Power Exchange Committee (PEC) to secure power supplies. The government is not restricted by India from importing electricity through these channels, according to the Ministry. (RSS)
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