Nepal and India are close to finalizing the regulatory modality for allowing Nepali power producers access to the Indian power market, according to the statement of the 8th joint steering committee meeting on cooperation in power sector held on Friday.

The statement said that once the regulatory modality is finalized and signed between the two countries, it would provide an outlet for Nepal’s surplus power in the coming months.

The power and energy secretaries of Nepal and India co-chaired the meeting through video conferencing on Friday.

The meeting was led by Dinesh Kumar Ghimire, secretary of the Ministry of Energy from Nepal’s side while his counterpart Sanjiv Nandan Sahai was accompanied by Ambassador of India to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra and a 17 member delegation drawn from various ministries and public sector undertakings of India.

The meeting is the apex bilateral mechanism for enhancing and coordinating various government-to-government led initiatives in the power sector.

According to the press statement issued by the Indian Embassy in Nepal, the meeting reviewed the progress made on bilateral processes and initiatives in this sector.

Both sides discussed, inter alia, development of suitable rules and guidelines for allowing access to Nepali power producers to Indian markets, development of energy banking mechanism, development of cross border high voltage transmission lines and reviewing the progress of the SJVN Limited- developed 900MW Arun-III hydropower project in Nepal.

“Both governments have been coordinating closely with each other in the power sector. Consequently, progress made in the last five years in this sector has been exemplary,” the statement reads.

This includes completion of South Asia’s first cross border 400 kV transmission line at Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar, agreement on funding modality for Gorakhpur-Butwal 400 kV line for which the construction will commence soon, and progress on the 900 MW Arun-III hydro project.

Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening the power sector cooperation between the two countries, including the development of an integrated grid, building more cross border transmission lines, as required, as well as investing in Nepal’s hydro and solar power projects.

“The positive and wide-ranging discussions are expected to further support the expansion in power sector cooperation between India and Nepal,” the embassy said in the statement.