Nepal parliament panel asks govt to ink energy deal with India

A parliamentary panel in Nepal today asked the government to sign a "Power Trade Agreement" (PTA) with India as soon as possible to open the door of economic prosperity for the country suffering from long power outages.
The Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Energy and Water Resources of Nepal directed the government to immediately reach a deal on energy with the Indian government keeping in view the national interest.
Drawing "serious attention" towards the issue, the panel said the government needs to sign a power cooperation deal with India and other neighbouring countries as per national interest and necessity, upholding the universal principles of electricity trade.

"There should not be any further delay in making the deal as it would be essential for our prosperity," Amrit Bohara, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee and a senior leader of CPN-UML, told PTI.
"The government should make it clear, why the deal should not be made, if it finds any reason behind differing the deal," the Parliamentary Committee said.
"We need to sign Power Trade Agreement not only with India but also with China and Bangladesh as development of hydro-power is essential for the development of our country," Bohara said.

During the meeting, Minister for Energy Radha Gyawali stressed on the need for making the deal with India as it would be beneficial for Nepal in the future.

Although the opposition parties were sharply divided over the matter, Gyawali said she was confident that the dispute would be ironed out promptly.
The UCPN-Maoist and CPN-Maoist have been opposing the idea of striking a hydropower deal with India claiming that such a deal would be a blow to national interest.
Minister Gyawali said the deal on energy with the southern neighbour would open the door of economic prosperity for Nepal.
Nepal has to attract a large quantity of national and foreign direct investments for its economic development through the hydro power sector, the Committee observed.
Nepal's communist insurgency and the ensuing political instability have hampered the construction of new power plants in the country.

The country frequently experiences long power outages due to shortage of supply.