Nepal will face massive problems in electricity supply if investment on transmission line is neglected: kulman

Kathmandu: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Managing Director Kulman Ghising said Nepal will face massive problems in electricity supply if the government does not take an initiative to invest in transmission line expansion on time.

Speaking at a press meet on Sunday, Ghising said that Nepal needs an investment of Rs 800 billion for the improvement in electricity supply across the country.

An average of Rs 50-60 billion will be needed to construct infrastructures including east-west transmission, cross-border line and number of internal substations to ease electricity supply in the Kathmandu valley. “Likewise, Rs 400-500 billion is needed for the projects that were started in the past five years,” Ghising said.

He underscored that strengthening of transmission lines is essential to export, to increase domestic consumption and to receive economic benefits. If the necessary infrastructure is not built by next year, billions of rupees invested in hydropower projects will fall into risk.

According to government records, around 95 percent of the country’s population has benefited from electrification. Ghising said the NEA has been putting its full effort to expand access of the remaining five percent population to electricity.  

Ghising clarified that the frequent power outage observed at present is not an outcome of making export of electricity to India. “NEA exports only the generated electricity that remains unused for domestic consumption in off hours,” he added.