Nepal earns NPR 5.93 billion from electricity exports to India despite flood damage to hydropower projects….reports Asian Lite News Desk
Nepal’s electricity export earnings rose in the third month of the 2026-27 fiscal year despite flood damage to several hydropower projects, with revenue from sales to India reaching NPR 5.93 billion, according to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
Nepal exported 633.99 million units of electricity to India during Aswin, which ran from mid-September to mid-October. Export earnings increased by NPR 962 million compared with the same month in the previous fiscal year, when the country earned NPR 4.96 billion.
Revenue also rose by NPR 832.5 million compared with Bhadra, the preceding month, when electricity exports generated NPR 5.09 billion. During the first three months of the current fiscal year, from mid-July to mid-October, Nepal recorded electricity export transactions worth NPR 16.15 billion, the NEA said.
The increase came despite significant damage to hydropower infrastructure caused by floods on August 26. The disaster affected projects involved in supplying electricity to India and Bangladesh, forcing some plants to suspend generation.
According to the World Bank’s Nepal Development Update, released earlier this month, 12 hydropower projects, including operational plants and those under construction, were damaged. Seven of the affected projects were operational, three of which had received approval to export electricity.
Flooding along the Trishuli River, following a flash flood in the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa, damaged the Trishuli and Chilime hydropower plants. Both had been authorised to supply electricity to Bangladesh. The disruption also partially affected exports to Haryana in India.
Nepal temporarily suspended electricity exports to Bangladesh during part of Aswin because of the damage. Under a tripartite agreement between Nepal, India and Bangladesh, Nepal can export up to 40 megawatts (MW) of electricity to Bangladesh using India’s transmission infrastructure.
The NEA said exports to Bangladesh resumed on Friday after India’s Central Electricity Authority approved electricity generated by alternative hydropower plants.
Under the revised arrangement, electricity produced by the Solu, Kabeli-1 and Lower Modi hydropower projects has been approved for export to Bangladesh and Haryana, replacing supplies from the Trishuli, Devighat and Chilime plants.
“The resumption is expected to help Nepal manage its seasonal electricity surplus and expand cross-border power trade,” said NEA managing director Dirghayu Kumar Shrestha.
Nepal exports surplus electricity during the rainy season after meeting domestic demand. Under medium-term bilateral power purchase agreements, it supplies electricity to the Indian states of Haryana and Bihar from June to October. Remaining surplus power is traded through the Indian Energy Exchange’s day-ahead and real-time markets.
“Approximately two-thirds of the electricity exported to India in Asoj was sold under bilateral agreements, with the remainder traded through the energy exchange,” Shrestha said.
Meanwhile, India’s Central Electricity Authority has approved an additional 31 MW of electricity exports from Nepal, taking the total approved export capacity to approximately 1,179 MW, according to the NEA.
The rise in export earnings highlights the continued importance of cross-border electricity trade to Nepal’s energy sector, even as flood-related damage disrupts generation and supply arrangements.
