Minister Khadka asked for an explanation saying that he had visited India without taking the prior approval of the Ministry and had agreed on the tariff rate, Ghising's claim that he had agreed in the presence of the representatives of the Ministry and the Nepali Mission in Delhi.
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Energy Minister Deepak Khadka has asked Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority Kulman Ghising for another explanation. Minister Khadka said that he was not satisfied with the explanation given by Ghising on March 28, and asked for a two-point explanation as to why he should not be removed from the post of executive director of Nepal Electricity Authority by a ministerial decision on Tuesday.
Ghising led the Nepalese delegation at the Nepal-India Bilateral Power Exchange Committee meeting held in New Delhi on January 30. The meeting fixed the per unit rate of import-export electricity through 132, 33 and 11 KV transmission lines from April 2025 to March 2026 at 8.10, 8.78 and 9.41 Baht respectively. The energy minister has a question as to which agency's approval was taken when he went to the meeting and agreed.
"As per subject number 20 and 23 of Schedule 1 of Nepal Government (Performance) Regulations, 2064, how did you get the authority to sign the memorandum of agreement prepared through bilateral negotiations without obtaining the consent of the Ministry to increase the financial obligations?" asked in the clarification letter. In the
meeting, Ghising, Deputy Executive Director of the Authority, Dalgayukumar Shrestha, Rajan Dhakal, Chandan Kumar Ghosh, Mandira Adhikari, Lokendra Bahadur Saud, Senior Divisional Engineer Sanjeev Rai from the Ministry of Energy and Vijayraj Tandukar, First Secretary of the Nepali Embassy in India were present in the
meeting.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli asked Minister Khadka about the price of electricity imported and exported from India during the cabinet meeting on Monday. "The prime minister's first question was whether Ghisingh was allowed to visit India or not," said one of the participating ministers. The energy minister said that he and Ghising were in Delhi for two different programs at the same time and Ghising did not meet and coordinate with him at that time. Immediately after the
, Prime Minister Oli questioned whether Ghising was given a mandate to sign the electricity tariff adjustment. Minister Khadka replied that Ghising did not speak to the ministry or him in this regard.
Energy Minister Khadka has questioned whether or not Ghising took approval even when he went on external and internal visits. "How many times have you gone on internal business trips, vacations or international trips since the date of the appointment of Honorable Minister Deepak Khadka as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nepal Electricity Authority?", the explanatory letter says, "Which of the internal business trips or vacations have you taken according to Regulation 18 of the Regulation on Conditions and Facilities of the Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority, 2061 (with amendments)?" When going on international work trips, have you taken the approval of the board of directors according to regulation 32 of the same regulations? Why didn't you take approval for the matter that required approval?' Khadka asked the question saying.
Technically, it has been claimed that the Cabinet approved the name of the working group that will sit in the Nepal India Secretary-level Joint Steering Committee meeting held on January 29 and Ghising went to India after the letter from the Ministry of Energy.
"It was agreed between both sides to hold the meeting of the Nepal-India secretary-level joint directorate committee the day before and the meeting of the electricity exchange committee the next day," said the statement issued by the authority. The authority says that although the per unit rate of import-export electricity has been agreed upon, it has not been implemented. "When trying to hold a meeting of the management committee, the meeting has not been able to be held for a long time, we also want to make it clear that if the situation is not approved by the management committee and the regulatory commission, electricity will not be imported as per the electricity exchange agreement," said the statement of the authority.
The meeting of the committee, which has been implemented since 1985, is co-chaired by a member of the Central Electricity Authority of India and the executive director of the Nepal Electricity Authority, according to the statement. The authority claims that the average price increase will be 5.5 percent in the previous years, but this time the average increase will be only 1.5 percent.
"Currently fixed rate is the lowest ever increased rate," the statement states, "Only if necessary, according to this agreement, mainly from 4 pm to 9 pm during the month of dry yam and during the period when there is no electricity import approval by competition from the Indian Energy Exchange." Which was answered by Ghising on December 28. But the last explanation has been asked saying that the answer is not objective and satisfactory.
The authority has claimed that the provision cited to seek clarification has already been repealed. Officials of the authority claim that there is no provision related to the service conditions and facilities of the Executive Director Regulation 2061 (with amendments) and although previously there was the Nepal Electricity Authority Staff Service Regulations 2062, the Nepal Electricity Authority Staff Service Regulations 2075 (with the eleventh amendment) were repealed.
