February 23: The electricity sale negotiations between Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) have progressed in the positive direction, according to the NEA officials who are currently in Dhaka for the power trade deal.

The two sides have agreed to conclude the electricity trade agreement as soon as possible to begin export of electricity to Bangladesh from the upcoming monsoon.

The NEA informed that the team led by its Executive Director Kulman Ghising and the Bid Evaluation Committee under the BPDB held talks in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, on Thursday.

Quoting Executive Director Ghising, the NEA sources informed that the two sides held a detailed discussion on every point to be included in the electricity sale agreement and it was agreed to finalize the agreement soon.

"BPDB submitted a proposal as per the rules upon our request and we discussed in detail the points to be included in the contract," the source quoted Ghising as saying, adding, "They have to get approval from the higher authorities and complete the process. An agreement has been reached to buy electricity from Nepal during the upcoming rainy season.''

The electricity purchase agreement is to be signed for a five-year period initially. The NEA informed that Nepal will export electricity from India's Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 kV international transmission line.

Officials of the NEA say that nothing can be said about the price of electricity to be sold to Bangladesh right now. A senior officer of the authority said that although the main issue at present is the price, he is not allowed to talk about it as it can affect the negotiations.

 Quoting a Bangladeshi energy expert, the Daily Observer newspaper published there wrote that the rate proposed by the authority is expensive. Bangladeshi energy experts have also said that they should be more cautious in the energy purchase agreement with Nepal as they believe that there is a possibility that more energy can be imported from Nepal in the future and that the first agreement will set a precedent for future tariff negotiations.