The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has invited proposals for the purchase of 200 megawatts of electricity and the sale of 500 megawatts. The authority issued a notice on Monday, inviting proposals for the import of electricity in January and May from 2027 to 2028 and the export of electricity in June and November from 2026 to 2030.

The NEA's notice states that the minimum rate of electricity per unit for sale should be Rs 5.45. Interested proposers will have to submit their proposals by April 9. The NEA's board of directors meeting held on December 15, chaired by the then Energy Minister Kulman Ghising, had decided to invite bids for export for 5 years and import for 2 years, evaluate the received proposals, and authorize the executive director to enter into a purchase-sale agreement with the selected bidders. 

The NEA had previously invited separate bids for the purchase and sale of electricity through competitive bidding. In doing so, the bidders had proposed rates that were too high for the NEA to purchase and too low for the sale, which had to be canceled. The NEA has stated that the process has been taken forward in a way that maximizes the maximum benefit through a single bid for purchase and sale to avoid the same rate proposal as in the past. After receiving in-principle agreement from the Electricity Regulatory Commission, the NEA had decided to invite bids for the purchase and sale of electricity in India through competition. 

Due to the large number of run-of-river hydropower projects, Nepal has a situation where electricity production decreases during the dry season and supply is insufficient, so it has to be imported. During the rainy season, power plants operate at full capacity and more electricity is available than the demand, so there is a situation of wastage. For this year's rainy season, 35 hydropower projects have been approved by the Designated Authority of India to sell 1,160 MW through the 400 kV Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur line and various 132 kV domestic transmission lines through the India Power Exchange Market and Mid-Term Agreement.

The Authority has been importing electricity as per the system's requirements during the dry season. Therefore, the Authority had invited proposals on February 13 to purchase 100 MW of electricity for the months of April and May. At that time, the Authority had said that the proposal should be submitted by February 22. However, the Authority amended the notice on February 21 and extended the time by 5 days. The Authority stated that the deadline is until February 27. The NEA has stated that the per unit rate of electricity purchased from April 1 to May 31 should not exceed Rs 6.90. 

Earlier, the NEA had invited proposals on January 19 to purchase 100 MW of electricity from India for this dry season. The NEA had invited proposals not exceeding Rs 6.60 per unit from February to March and Rs 6.90 per unit for April and May. Although a notice was issued asking for applications by January 28, no proposals were received at that time.

The NEA board meeting held on December 15, chaired by the then Energy Minister Ghising, had decided to seek sealed quotation proposals from Category 1 Indian traders (trading companies) through public notice, giving a period of 10 days to purchase 100 MW of electricity through open competition during the dry season. The NEA had invited proposals in accordance with the same decision.

The NEA has been importing electricity from India to meet domestic demand as electricity production is low during winter. India has renewed the permission given to Nepal to import 654 MW of electricity at competitive rates from the Indian Energy Exchange (IX) from 17 Poush to 17 Chaitra. The Central Electricity Authority under the Ministry of Power of India has renewed the permission to import 654 MW of electricity from the IX's day-ahead and real-time market (RTC). The authority has been allowed to import 654 MW of electricity at competitive rates, including 600 MW through the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 kV transmission line and 54 MW from Tanakpur-Mahendranagar.

Nepal has been purchasing electricity through competition in the IX's day-ahead and real-time markets. Accordingly, 'bidding' with price and quantity takes place the day before the purchase. Proposals were invited from the government-invested Power Trading Company (PTC India) and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) on 13 Shrawan 2082 to purchase electricity through a bilateral agreement. At that time, Shakya was the Executive Director of the Authority, and Deepak Khadka was the Energy Minister.

PTC India had submitted a proposal on 23 Shrawan at 6.74 rupees per unit with a one-month deadline. Later, the deadline was extended by 15 days to 7 Asoj. But the process did not move forward as the NEA's board of directors did not take a decision. 

On 18 Bhadra, NVVN had proposed to sell 200 MW of electricity from Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur and 30 MW from Tanakpur line at 7.70 rupees per unit. After the Gen-G movement, the then Executive Director Ghising became the Energy Minister at the end of Bhadra. And, he transferred Hitendradev Shakya of NEA from the position of Executive Director and appointed Manoj Silwal . After that, NVVN had sent a reply to the NEA's request to reduce the electricity purchase rate at 7.67 rupees per unit.

Meanwhile, PTC India had submitted a proposal on 6 Asoj to sell electricity at Rs 6.95 per unit through the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 kV transmission line and 132 kV Bihar-Nepal line from January 2026 to May 2026 in relation to the NEA's rate review proposal.  

Silwal assumed office as the Executive Director on 7 Asoj, and the NEA's Board of Directors meeting held on 10 Asoj decided to issue a letter of intent with PTC India to import 180 MW of electricity for 24 hours for five months at Rs 6.95 per unit. Thereafter, a power purchase and sale agreement was signed between the NEA and PTC India on 27 Asoj 2082. After receiving the approval from the Electricity Regulatory Commission, the proposal was sent to the concerned body of India on 14 Kartik 2082. The PTC-Authority agreement was approved by the Designated Authority of India on 3 January 2026 (19 Pus 2082).

In the NEA board meeting held on 6 January 2026 (22 Pus 2082), there was a discussion with the information that India had agreed, but no decision was made. On 13 January 2026 (29 Pus 2082), NEA Executive Director Hitendradev Shakya had said that electricity would be imported through the PTC agreement from 13 January 2026 (29 Pus 2082).

NVVN had submitted a proposal to the NEA on 15 December (29 Mangsir) that it was ready to sell 100 MW of electricity for three months from January to March at 6.60 rupees per unit. The period of the proposal was fixed until 4 Pus. However, no decision could be taken on the proposal as the NEA board meeting was not held. 

Currently, NEA is buying 654 MW at a competitive rate during the winter and additional electricity as required through the Nepal-India Electricity Exchange Committee (PEC). Currently, NEA is importing an average of 500 MW of electricity daily, said Rajan Dhakal, spokesperson for NEA. Only a maximum of 350 MW of electricity can be imported through PEC. The rate of electricity imported through PEC has already been fixed for 2025. The authority has fixed the price of electricity exchanged through 132 kV transmission lines at 8.1 rupees (12 rupees 96 paisa) per unit for 2025.

The price of electricity imported through 33 kV transmission lines has been fixed at 8.78 rupees (14 rupees 04 paisa) per unit and the rate of electricity imported and exported through 11 kV transmission lines has been fixed at 9.41 rupees (15.05 rupees). ‘No new meeting of PEC has been held for 2026. The price fixed for 2025 will be effective until next March,’ the authority has stated.