Kathmandu, April 24: Nepal Electricity Authority has said that the power cuts in the industrial sector is only a short-term problem.

Kulman Ghising, managing director of the authority, said that the problem in power supply has badly affected the industrial corridors in eastern Nepal. According to him, due to the weak transmission capacity of the cross-border transmission line during the dry season, it has become a problem to import enough electricity.

After the decline in domestic production, the Authority has been importing an average of 500 MW of electricity from India every day. Ghising said that about 400 MW of electricity is being imported from the transmission lines of Dhalkebar and Tanakpur and another 100 MW of electricity is being supplied from the infrastructure in Raxaul, Ramnagar and Kataiya.

After the decline in electricity supply, industrialists of Biratnagar have also protested against the state-owned electricity authority. Morang Traders Association, an umbrella organization of the private sector, has alleged that the irresponsible action of the authority has caused a huge financial loss.

On the other hand, the authority has said that due to a significant decrease in domestic electricity production, the electricity supply had to be stopped. According to Ghisingh, the power generation has reached only 30.35 percent of the actual installed capacity. The local power house has been supplying only 700 megawatts of electricity, while we are importing about 500 megawatts from India.

The authority’s records show that currently the maximum demand for electricity is 1,700 MW, while the average demand is 1,300 MW. Ghising said that the demand for industrial units has increased this year after the authority approved an additional 800 MW this year.

Meanwhile, the authority aims to export up to 1,000 megawatts of electricity to India in the coming year.