NEPAL > PTA & PDA between India and Nepal
A Cabinet meeting on Thursday endorsed the power trade agreement (PTA) that Nepal and India recently initialed, and the amended project development agreement for the 900 megawatt Upper Karnali Hydropower Project.
The Cabinet also directed the Investment Board Nepal to sign the PDA deal with India’s GMR-ITD Consortium. An IBN board meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sushil Koirala had endorsed the PDA on Wednesday.
With IBN Board asking the IBN to make some amendments, the Board forwarded the revised PDA to the Cabinet for final endorsement on Thursday afternoon.
The PTA was signed by the secretaries of the two countries in New Delhi on September 5. Titled ‘Electric Power Trade, Cross-Border Transmission Interconnection and Grid Connectivity’, the document will open new avenues to the country’s energy sector with the neighbouring nations enabled to trade energy. As per the Cabinet decision, Energy Secretary Rajendra Kishore Kshatri and IBN Chief Executive Officer Radhesh Pant have been authorised to sign the PTA and PDA documents, respectively, on behalf of the government.
Source : eKantipur
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Nepal, India sign PTA
KATHMANDU, OCT 21 – Nepal and India have finally signed on the Power Trade Agreement (PTA) that was reached between the two countries couple of months ago.
Energy Secretary Rajendra Kishor Chhetri and Indian Energy Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha signed on the bilateral agreement from their respective sides amidst a programme at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers here in the Capital on Tuesday.
Minister for Energy Radha Gyawali, Chief Secretary Leela Mani Poudyal, and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae were present on the occasion. The preliminary signing on the initial draft of the agreement had taken place on September 4.
Governments of both the countries had approved the final draft of the agreement sometime ago.
Talking to media persons after the signing of the PTA, Energy Secretary Chhetri said with the final signing of the agreement a strong base has been created for addressing the problems of power crisis facing the country for a long time.
Construction of trans-border transmission line is moving ahead so as to import power from India, Energy Secretary Chhetri said. A secretary-level special mechanism has been constituted to clear possible difficulties in the enforcement of agreement and a joint-secretary level taskforce has also been formed to that end, he added.
As per the agreement, the secretary-level mechanism will meet once a year whereas the join-secretary-level body shall meet twice a year. The agreement is aimed at clearing the existing power crisis within the next three years.
Indian Energy Secretary Sinha said the Indian government is ready to cooperate with Nepal for power development. The agreement has paved the way for Nepal for trading power with India and other third countries. A Power Trade Agreement on Arun III Hydropower Project will be signed soon, he added.
Source : eKantipur
