Nepal earns over Rs. 18.2 billion from electricity exports in first five months of FY 2025/26

By Laxman Kafle, Kathmandu, Jan. 6": Nepal’s electricity export sector recorded a strong performance in the first five months of the current fiscal year 2025/26, earning more than Rs. 18.26 billion from power sales to India and Bangladesh.

According to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), about 2.714 billion units of electricity, worth Rs. 18.26 billion, was exported from mid-July to mid-December 2025.

This represents a 38 per cent increase compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year. 

In the first five months of FY 2024/25, around 1.76 billion units of electricity, valued at Rs. 13.2 billion, was exported.

The NEA has been exporting surplus electricity to India during the rainy season for the past few years. However, NEA started exporting electricity to Bangladesh from June, 2025.

Most of Nepal’s hydropower projects are run-of-river (ROR) systems. As river water levels rise during the monsoon, electricity generation increases, enabling exports to India and Bangladesh.

Conversely, electricity generation declines during the winter when river flows are low, forcing Nepal to import power from India to meet  domestic demand.

The NEA exported 2.35 billion units of electricity worth Rs. 17.46 billion in FY 2024/25, while 1.94 billion units worth Rs 16.9 billion was exported to India in FY 2023/24.

The average rate of electricity exported to India during the five-month period stood at Rs 7.11 per unit.

The Authority is selling the surplus electricity at competitive rates in the day-ahead and real-time markets of the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and to the states of Haryana and Bihar as per the bilateral medium-term power sales agreement. 

During the review period, Nepal earned USD 9.436 million from electricity exports to Bangladesh. A total of 147.43 GWh of electricity was exported from mid-June to mid-November of the current fiscal year.

The sale rate of electricity exported as per the agreement is 6.40 US cents per unit. 

The NEA began exporting 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh via the Indian transmission line on June 15, 2025. However, electricity was first exported to Bangladesh for 12 hours on November 15, 2024, through the same transmission route.

A tripartite power sales agreement was signed on October 3, 2024, between the Nepal Electricity Authority, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) of India, and the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) to facilitate the export of 40 megawatts of electricity from Nepal to Bangladesh using the Indian grid.

At the seventh meeting of the Nepal–Bangladesh Energy Secretary-level Joint Steering Committee (JSC) held in Dhaka in late November, an agreement was reached to export an additional 20 megawatts of electricity. Once implemented, Nepal will be able to export a total of 60 megawatts of electricity  to Bangladesh.

According to the NEA, the highest monthly electricity export revenue—Rs. 5.03 billion—was recorded in Ashoj (September 17 to October 17), while the lowest—Rs. 1.10 billion—was recorded in Mangsir (November 17 to December 15).

Similarly, electricity exports were valued at Rs. 3.87 billion in Shrawan (July 17 to August 16), Rs. 4.49 billion in Bhadra (August 17 to September 16), and Rs. 3.76 billion in Kartik (October 18 to November 16) of the current fiscal year.