Kathmandu, May 20: Minister for Energy and Water Resources Barsha Man Pun said that the government was likely to announce a package to offer discount on electricity charges, including the demand charges to the industrial sector.
"The Electricity Regulatory Commission is working on the possible options in tariff revision; it will have its say in a few days. The government will offer discounts or facilities as per the recommendations of the ERC," he said while speaking at a webinar on 'Energy and Agriculture in COVID-19' organised by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) on Tuesday.
He said that when everyone was losing their income, the losses should be shared by all so that no single stakeholder was affected unfairly.
Minister Pun said that the government would also facilitate the energy projects under construction. "As the lockdown is having a negative impact on the developers and development of energy projects, the government will create a policy instrument to address their concerns," he said while promising that further steps would be taken after holding dialogue with the developers.
According to him, the entire country would have access to energy within a couple of years. "I am ready to facilitate the business and industry sector with every possible scheme so that they can survive the crisis," he said.
“We will have energy surplus in this rainy season, so our priority is to create an environment to increase the demand of electricity in the country and find a way to operate the industries so that they can get reliable energy supply during the lockdown,” he noted.
Managing Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Kulman Ghishing said that the shutdown of industry, hotels and commercial sector due to the coronavirus and lockdown had reduced the demand for electricity drastically.
“We will have energy surplus of about 200 megawatts in the rainy season but the shutdown of business activities will result in its wastage,” he said.
He maintained that the current electricity tariff was reasonable.
"We buy electricity at Rs 8 at the power plant and if we add the leakage, supply and management expenses, the cost goes higher than Rs 10 which means with an average of Rs 8.5 per unit, NEA is at loss," said Ghishing.
He said that as the purchase price of electricity was likely to go down in future with the completion of some large-scale hydroelectricity projects, the charges to the industrial sector could be revised.
Energy will have a positive impact on household to industry and agriculture. Energy charges for irrigation purpose are slightly above Rs 3, he said.
General Secretary of the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN) Ashish Garg said that lack of market for Nepali power had surfaced two years in advance in spill energy situation due to the coronavirus.
He suggested immediate steps to reduce cooking gas import by electrical stoves and reduce petrol/diesel consumption with the use of electric vehicles.
"It is time to rush for the export markets in India and Bangladesh as well," he said.
Farmers must earn and save: Bhusal
Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Ghana Shyam Bhusal said that the government wanted to develop agriculture as an attractive sector for enterprise and employment.
He said that the workers in the sector should be equipped with better skills and higher productivity.
"If a family is unable to save at least Rs 30,000 from agriculture activities, it cannot stay in the occupation for a long time. Our concern is to ensure a family involved in agriculture makes that income," he said while adding, "Farmers must earn and save money."
Minister Bhusal indicated that he was for greater protection of agricultural enterprises and products. "For that we must allow large holding, promote commercialisation and mechanisation and sufficient investment in agriculture," he said.
According to him, the government's focus is to generate employment and protect farmers and entrepreneurs in the sector since it can play a historic role in this crisis.
"General people, economists and intelligentsia are saying that agriculture can generate a large number of employments, reduce trade deficit, and accommodate Nepali workers returning from abroad. I agree with them," he said. He said that in the next three years, the agriculture would be a sector for sustainable business.
Published in The Rising NEpal daily on 21 May 2020.
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