The energy secretaries of Nepal and India are meeting in New Delhi to discuss a project to cooperate on cross-border power transmission lines that will generate at least 16,000 megawatts of power by 2035.

The 12-member delegation is headed by Suresh Acharya, the secretary at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation. The meeting will develop a roadmap for the construction of a cross-border transmission line to facilitate the transfer of energy to Bangladesh and India. Nepal currently supplies 40 megawatts of energy to Bangladesh. These transmission lines will help Nepal transmit more power to Bangladesh via India.

Delegates from these two nations met earlier in January at a joint secretary-level meeting and agreed to build, upgrade and invest in modalities for five cross-border transmission lines. The minutes of that meeting will be endorsed in the secretary-level meeting now.

Among the major projects under discussion are the 400 kV Inaruwa (Duhabi)-Purnia (Bihar) and Dodhara (Lamki)-Bareli (Uttar Pradesh) cross-border transmission lines. The former is slated for 2027-28 while the latter is for 2028-29. Three additional transmission lines are expected to be operational including the 400 kV Nijgadh (Bara)- Motihari (Bihar) line, the Kohlapur-Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) line, and the 220 kV double circuit Chameliya-Jauljibi cross border line. The Chameliya-Jauljibi project is on track to be completed by 2027. In the last meeting, officials also agreed to upgrade the only high-capacity 400 kV transmission line Dhalkebar- Muzaffarpur between the countries. This will allow both countries to export and import in the range of 1000-1100 MW of energy.

India committed to purchase up to 10,000 MW of power from Nepal over the next decade under a long-term trade agreement. Works are also progressing for 3500 megawatts of the new Bhutwal-Gorakpur transmission line Inaugurated in June 2003 by Indian PM Narendra Modi and Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The two nations intend to progress this transboundary cooperation to foster strong diplomatic relations and regional energy security and trade.