The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has stated that electricity has been imported since January 13, i.e., December 29, in accordance with the power purchase agreement between the Nepal Electricity Authority and the Power Trading Corporation of India (PTC).

The Designated Authority has given its consent to the agreement between PTC India and the Authority, effective from January 3, 2026 (December 19, 2082), immediately after the Authority's board of directors held on December 30 decided not to implement the agreement. "India has not been informed about the decision to terminate the authority's agreement, India has given its consent without informing it," the source said.

Authority's Executive Director Hitendradev Shakya confirmed that he has been purchasing electricity through PTC since January 13. Shakya says that he informed the Authority's board of directors meeting held on December 22 after PTC refused to terminate the agreement and said that legal action and financial compensation would be paid if the agreement was terminated. "Even after the board 

informed the meeting, it remained undecided, as no decision was made, we did not import electricity. But after PTC said that if we do not purchase now, we will be fined, so we started buying electricity from January 13," he said. Shakya said that he will inform again in the next board of directors meeting. There is an arrangement for the chairman of the board of directors to be the Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation. Currently, Anil Sinha is the Minister of Energy.

Nepal-India bilateral agreement was signed on 29 July 2025 (2082 Shrawan 13) for the purchase of electricity from the Power Trading Corporation of India (PTC) and the Indian government agency NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN). PTC India had submitted a proposal for the sale of electricity at 6.74 rupees per unit, excluding transmission losses, state and central government transmission line charges, giving a period of 1 month on 8 August 2025 (2082 Shrawan 23). According to the proposal, the agreement should have been completed by 8 September 2025 (23 Bhadra 2082). The authority had requested PTC to extend the time by 15 days on 31 August 2025 (2082 Bhadra 15) to maintain the proposal till 23 September 2025 (2082 Asoj 7).

Immediately after, on 1 September 2025 (16 Bhadra 2082), the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Authority decided to enter into a 100 MW power purchase agreement with PTC at 6.74 rupees per unit. The same meeting had already decided to authorize the Executive Director to sign the agreement and request the government through the Ministry of Energy to approve the agreement.

Even when the Board of Directors of the Authority decided on PTC's proposal, no further implementation process had taken place. At that time, Deepak Khadka was the Minister of Energy. Shakya was the Executive Director of the Authority. The term of the said proposal was 8 September 2025 (23 Bhadra  2082).

The Authority requested PTC to reduce the proposed rate and extend the deadline, so the power purchase agreement could not be concluded within the initially given one-month period (until 8 September 2025), said Shakya, Executive Director of the Authority. “We had requested the PTC to extend the time and the tariff rate twice, but till then there was no response,” he said. “At the same time, the Authority was also corresponding with NVVN. Therefore, a decision could not be taken on the proposal sent by PTC on August 8.”

Shakya said that although PTC did not respond to the Authority’s request to reduce the rate and extend the deadline, on September 17, 2025 (October 1, 2082), PTC sent a letter stating that the deadline for the proposal expired on September 8, 2025 (August 23, 2082). When asked about this letter, Shakya said, “I was not aware of that letter because I had already left the Authority at that time.”

In an informal conversation with PTC, Shakya informed that he had talked to the energy producers and the rate could be reduced. “After that, I left the Authority, after that the rate was 6.95 rupees per unit. However, the authority does not know which energy producer it belongs to.’

Gen-G demonstration took place in Nepal on 8/9 September 2025 (23 and 24 Bhadra 2082). At that time, the executive director of the authority, Shakya, was outside Nepal. Shakya had participated in the International Forum on Pumped Storage Hydropower program organized in Paris, France from Bhadra 8-10 September 2025 (23-25 ​​Bhadra 2082).

Shakya had left for Korea from France. Shakya had arrived in Korea from Bhadra 16-18 September 2025 (31 to Asoj 2) to participate in the Global Infrastructure Corporation Conference 2025. Since Shakya was outside, the decision was made by the authority’s board of directors, but the further process did not proceed.

Immediately after, on 16 September 2025 (31 Bhadra 2082), the NEA again requested PTC India to make arrangements to import 150 MW of electricity through substations in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and 200 MW from Dhalkebar and Muzaffarpur and to reduce the per-unit rate of electricity. Sending the NEA's reply on 17 September 2025 (1 Asoj 2082), PTC India stated in the letter that the proposal was valid until 8 September 2025 (23 Bhadra 2082), which had automatically expired.

Kulman Ghising became the Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation in the interim government formed on 30 Bhadra after the Gen-G protests. Immediately, Ghising transferred the NEA's Executive Director Hitendra Dev Shakya to the vacant Water and Energy Commission on 21 September 2025 (5 Asoj 2082) and appointed Manoj Silwal as the Executive Director.

PTC India, on September 22, 2025 (6 Asoj 2082), had sent a new proposal of Rs 6.95 per unit, referring to the letter dated July 29, 2025 (13 Shrawan 2082). PTC India had submitted a proposal to sell electricity at Rs 6.95 per unit (including transmission line loss and transmission charges) for five months, stating that it would sell 100 MW from the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 kV transmission line and 80 MW from the 132 kV Bihar-Nepal line.

When did the dispute over the Nepal Electricity Authority and PTC India power purchase agreement occur?

The then Executive Director of the Authority, Manoj Silwal, took office on 23 September 2025 (7 Asoj 2082), the day after PTC sent the proposal. PTC had set the deadline for the proposal until 28 September 2025 (12 Asoj 2082). PTC India had sent a letter on 9 Asoj 2082 stating that the per-unit rate of electricity could not be reduced below 6.95 rupees per unit, following a verbal request by the Authority to reduce the per-unit rate.

Two days after Silwal assumed office, the NEA Board of Directors meeting held on 10 Asoj decided to seek consent from the Electricity Regulatory Commission to purchase 180 MW of electricity at 6.95 rupees per unit as per PTC India's proposal and to immediately seek a letter of intent as the deadline was 28 September 2025 (12 Asoj 2082). Based on the decision of the NEA Board of Directors, a letter of intent was issued to PTC India on 10 Asoj and consent was sought from the Electricity Regulatory Commission on 12 Asoj.

Before the consent of the Regulatory Commission came, the NEA had signed an agreement with PTC India to buy and sell electricity on 13 October 2025 (27 Asoj 2082). The Commission, on the other hand, agreed to purchase electricity at 6.95 rupees per unit for five months on 29 Asoj 2082, a day after the agreement.

The then Executive Director Silwal says that the proposal, which was in the process before his arrival, was taken towards implementation. ‘Even before I came, there was a proposal to sell electricity at Rs 6.95,’ Silwal said. ‘Last year, India exported electricity only during the solar hour (6 am to 6 pm), so it was difficult to manage electricity during peak hours. That is why a bilateral agreement has been given priority to ensure electricity purchase during peak hours.’

After receiving the consent from the commission, the NEA submitted the agreement to the designated authority of the Central Electricity Authority of India on 31 October 2025 (14 Kartik 2082) for approval. In this way, it is seen that the NEA signed the agreement before the regulatory commission agreed.

Electricity Regulatory Commission Chairman Ram Prasad Dhital said that the agreement with PTC India was approved on 29 Asoj. ‘A draft of the agreement also comes along with the proposal for electricity purchase and sale. "After the NEA board decides, we will seek the consent of the commission," Dhital said. "The final agreement will be made after the Nepali side and the Central Electricity Authority of India give their consent. What happened before and after the agreement with the NEA and PTC was approved is not known."

But the then Executive Director Silwal claimed that the Regulatory Commission was informed as soon as the NEA board decided and that the letter of intent was issued because the deadline for the proposal was short. "If we had waited for the Commission's consent, the period of that proposal would have expired. Therefore, we issued the letter of intent after informing the Commission and seeking its consent," he said. "I had no wrong intention. We have implemented the proposal that was in the process."

After the approval from the Regulatory Commission, it was submitted to the Designated Authority of the Central Electricity Authority of India for approval on October 31, 2025 (October 14, 2082). The agreement would come into effect only after the agreement was reached. The NEA's board of directors had been claiming that the agreement was automatically terminated due to the lack of consent from the Indian Designated Authority.

Like NTPC, NVVN had sent a proposal on 3 September 2025 (19 Bhadra 2082) to sell a total of 230 MW of electricity, including 200 MW from Dhalkebar Muzaffarpur and 30 MW from Tanakpur line, at Rs 7.70 per unit, including transmission leakage and charges. NVVN, however, did not specify a deadline for the proposal it had sent. The Authority had requested NVVN to review the rate on 4 September 2025 (19 Bhadra 2082).

NVVN had sent a reply to the Authority on 17 September 2025 (1 Asoj 2082) that the rate had been reduced from Rs 7.70 per unit to Rs 7.67 per unit. The Authority had entered into an agreement with PTC India, stating that PTC's rate of Rs 6.95 per unit would be cheaper than NVVN's rate of Rs 7.70 per unit.

Shakya had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court on 21 Kartik demanding that his post should be retained in the Authority. On 8 December 2025 (22 Mangsir 2082), the Supreme Court reinstated Shakya as the Executive Director of the Authority. Shakya had assumed office again on 10 December 2025 (24 Mangsir 2082). Immediately on 16 December 2025 (1 Poush 2082), NVVN had sent a proposal to take 100 MW of electricity from the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission line for three months from January to March at Rs 6.60 per unit. The period of the proposal was fixed till 19 December 2025 (4 Poush 2082).

The meeting of the Authority's Board of Directors was also scheduled to be held on 19 December 2025 (4 Poush 2082). NVVN's proposal was also included in the agenda of the meeting. The agenda also mentioned a request to extend the deadline of December 19, 2025 (4 Pus 2082) to December 31, 2025 (16 Pus 2082).

However, there is a provision that the Energy Minister will be the chairman of the Authority's Board of Directors. At that time, a board member had said that the then Energy Minister Ghising had postponed the meeting after seeing the agenda. But Ghising claimed that the meeting could not be held because he had to go out of Kathmandu. 'We are holding regular meetings of the Authority's Board of Directors,' he had said, 'I had to go out of Kathmandu after finishing a program that day. That is why the meeting could not be held.'

A board member of the Authority said that the board meeting of the Authority held on December 30, that is, on December 15, would terminate the agreement made with PTC if the Indian body did not give its consent and that the Authority itself would automatically terminate it if it did not take a decision on the proposal of the NVVA. 

‘As per the agreement signed with PTC on 13 October 2025 to import 180 MW of electricity from 1 January 2026 to 31 May 2026, approval has not been received from the Designated Authority yet, therefore, as per the agreement signed with PTC, there is no situation of importing electricity from 1 January 2026, the Authority will be directed to take necessary steps to implement the agreement without creating any liability,’ the board decision states.