Kathmandu. The Nepal-India Joint Technical Committee (JTT) and Joint Working Group (JWG) meetings on energy, which have not been held for a year, are scheduled to be held in New Delhi, India on January 21 and 22 .

Earlier, the JWG meeting was held on January 2 last year, while the Joint Steering Committee (JSC) meeting led by the Secretary was held on January 3, 2024.Although the meetings of these mechanisms between Nepal and India are supposed to be held every six months, they are going to be held only after a year.

Senior energy expert Prabal Adhikari of the Ministry of Energy informed that the current meeting will mainly discuss the construction of two high-voltage transmission lines to be built between Nepal and India and the finalization of the investment format.

On 21 Poush last year, the Nepal and India Energy Secretary-level Steering Committee held in Chitwan agreed to complete the third largest Inaruwa-Purnia 400 kV cross-border transmission line between the two countries in 2027/28.

Similarly, it was agreed to complete another cross-border transmission line of the same capacity, the Lamki (Dododhara)-Bareilly transmission line, in 2028/29. However, in that meeting, there was no agreement on the construction format and investment format for these two transmission lines.

In the meeting, Nepal had proposed to construct these two transmission lines in the same modality as the Butwal-Gorakhpur 400 kV cross-border transmission line. The Nepalese side of the transmission line is being constructed by Nepal itself, while the Indian side is being constructed by a company that is jointly owned by the Nepal Electricity Authority and the Transmission Grid Company of India.

The use and rental (wheeling charge) of this transmission line has been fully paid by the Electricity Authority under a 25-year Implementation and Transmission Service Agreement (ITSA).India, however, had proposed a modality in which India would build the section on the Indian side and Nepal would build the section on the Nepal side.

Nepal had informed that if the transmission line is not built in the model proposed by it, the wheeling charge authority would pay only the amount of electricity flowing in the transmission line, and it would not be possible to book it in a way that it would bear the entire cost for 25 years. The committee meeting to be held in New Delhi on the 22nd will focus on finalizing this modality.

Before that, the joint technical committee meeting to be held in India on the 21st will discuss the issue of increasing the import and export volume of electricity through the Nepal-India Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission line, the issue of electricity that can be exchanged through the Dhalkebar-Sitamarhi 400 kV transmission line being built by the Indian company SJVN, and the issue of import and export of electricity through the Tanakpur-Mahendranagar 132 kV line.

Since Nepal did not accept India’s proposal, the Indian side has said that it can proceed with some amendments to the modality proposed by Nepal.

According to the recent proposal made by India, companies will be established in both countries to build the cross-border transmission line. The company established in India will have 51 percent shares of the Indian Power Grid Corporation and 49 percent of the Nepal Electricity Authority, which will build the Indian section of the line.

Similarly, a company established in Nepal will build the Nepalese portion of the transmission line, in which the Electricity Authority will own 51 percent of the shares and the Indian corporation will own 49 percent.

“Since it is sometimes difficult to make decisions in a company with equal shares, Nepal has also positively accepted the 51-49 proposal made by the Indian side,” said the source. “There is a possibility that its modalities will be finalized in that case.”The source also said that there is a possibility of an agreement being reached to have 20 percent equity in the companies established on both sides and provide 80 percent loan.“There is an agreement to give priority to concessional loans even when taking loans and only go for commercial loans if that is not available,” he said.

Currently, only the 400 kV Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission line is operational between Nepal and India, through which Nepal is importing 600 MW.

The Butwal-Gorakhpur transmission line of the same capacity is under construction. The target is to complete the construction of this transmission line by 2025. Out of this, the 18-kilometer transmission line on the Nepal side is being constructed with a grant from MCC, while the one on the Indian side is being constructed by a joint venture company of the two countries.

Apart from these two transmission lines, which are planned to be completed in 2028 and 29, the agenda of this meeting is to study the feasibility of transmission lines including Lucknow-Lamahi, Kisaganj/Purnia-Anarmani, Nijgadh-Motihari.Similarly, the meeting will also discuss the progress of the work being done on the construction of the Butwal-Gorakhpur transmission line.In addition, the meeting will also discuss how the 400 kV Dhalkebar-Sitamarhi transmission line being constructed by the Arun III Project can be used for Nepal-India electricity import and export.