December 1: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has made a profit of Rs 8.5 billion in the first three months of the current fiscal year (FY 2022/23).    
According to the NEA, its total income during the review period stood at Rs 32.98 billion. The NEA generated income through power trade, interest collection and other sources of income, the NEA said referring to its unaudited data.

Deducting its total expenditures of Rs 24.88 billion in the review period, NEA’s profit stands at Rs 8.5 billion.    
As per the proactive disclosure of its activities made as per the right to information (RTI) Act, the NEA in this period purchased power worth Rs 14.15 billion from the private sector.    
It, through the supplies of power generated by the power houses under its ownership and the energy purchases from the private sector, earned a net income of Rs 22.20 billion in the review period. Its income from the power trade to India in the first three months was Rs 6.17 billion.    
In the fiscal year 2015-16, the annual loss of the NEA was Rs 8.89 billion. However, it made a U-turn to report profit in the following years. Its annual profit was Rs 16.16 billion in the last fiscal year.    
According to NEA’s managing director Kulman Ghising, factors like intervention in power leakage, power export to India, rise in domestic consumption, control of expenditures are credited for converting NEA into a profitable organisation.  -- RSS