April 22: Industries of Bara-Parsa corridor are facing an acute shortage of energy at the moment. The industrialists say that they are facing unannounced power cuts for 12 hours a day through the 66 kV transmission line of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

Even though the NEA has declared Nepal free from load shedding,  the industries here have been affected by the recent energy crisis.

The production of the industries has dropped to 25/30 per cent due to lack of regular supply of electricity.

“There is power cut for 10/12 hours every day. How is production possible in this way?” an industrialist complained. The supply of electricity to the industries from the NEA's 33 and 11 kV lines is disrupted comparatively less. The industrialists receiving electricity from 66 kV line are more affected.

Chairman of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry Subodh Kumar Gupta said that the industries connected to the 66 kV line are experiencing load shedding for 12 hours a day and power tripping 5-6 times a day. Gupta said that there were problems in supply from other transmission lines as well.

"In the last few years, the industries had increased their production capacity due to the easy supply of electricity. But now, they are facing problems due to lack of energy. The industries in this corridor, which is facing energy problems, are now operating at 25-30 per cent of their capacity,” said Gupta.

Suresh Bhattarai, head of the NEA's grid operation department, claims that the current energy shortage is short-lived. According to Bhattarai, Nepal has also been affected by the global energy crisis following Ukraine’s invasion by Russia.

NEA insists that the problem of power cuts is due to excessive load. Bhattarai said that the supply could be disrupted in the future even if there is enough energy if the planned 132 to 400 kV transmission line is not constructed soon.

NEA Birgunj Distribution Center Chief Jitendra Kumar Jha also said that the problem in supply of electricity is mainly due to excessive load  in the transmission line.

He said that the Parwanipur-Raxaul 132 kV transmission line has been experiencing frequent power outages due to high load.

Most of the industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor are being supplied electricity from India through this transmission line. About 90 MW of electricity consumed in the corridor comes from this line.

According to Bhattarai, NEA has started construction of additional 132 KV transmission lines in Parwanipur-Raxaul, 400 KV Hetauda-Dhalkebar, 400 KV Hetauda-Inaruwa and 200 KV Hetauda-Bardaghat transmission lines.

Industrialists say that the raw material of industrial establishments get wasted due to frequent power cuts, and electricity tariff is also rising. It has led to an increase in production costs and  decline in quality, they say.