As different regional leaders met up in Kathmandu earlier this week, the newest development for the energy-starved Himalayan country becomes official: last Tuesday, an India-Nepal power deal was signed, which will end up providing electricity to the nation come 2020.
In times of energetic crisis for the South Asian nation, it seems that the India-Nepal power deal comes as a sort of savior, according to ABC News. In a $1.04 billion contract, the Indian company Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd. will build a hydropower station that is expected to begin giving the Nepalese electric power come the year 2020.
Nepal's Cabinet was the one that endorsed the new India-Nepal power deal late last Monday, while trying to get out of an energy crisis that can lead the Nepalese to be without electricity for up to 12 hours per day, according to Island Packet. Due to the country's geographical status, its main options to seek help are giants India and China.
The newest India-Nepal power deal will see the impoverished nation receiving about 22 percent of all power generated, while the rest will be exported to India. According to The Daily Star, the vast rivers of fast-flowing waters in the Himalayas mean a wide variety of untapped resources when it comes to hydroelectric power, which Nepal has failed to tap due to its limited resources.
While there are already different hydroplants in the country, they are hardly enough for the growing Nepalese demand, which is why the power outages can be so long - even during the rainy seasons, when rivers and lakes' levels are high.
This would mark the second India-Nepal power deal in the past few months: back in September, Nepal went through an agreement with yet another Indian company, GMR, for the construction of Upper Karnali Hydro power plant.
While India has only just begun to tap into its neighbor's resources, China has gone through different ventures in the country for the past few years. Beijing has been negotiating with Nepal for the construction of a power plant in the West Seti river, a venture that could cost up to 1.6 billion dollars and would ultimately generate 750 megawatts of electricity.
