Birgunj/Biratnagar: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has started exporting electricity to India from May 27. The NEA says that it started exporting electricity because the production is more than the demand in the domestic market.

However, the main industrial sectors of the country are still suffering from undeclared load shedding. Industrialists say that load shedding is still continuing in the main industrial areas such as Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor, Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor due to the lack of proper infrastructure for transmission lines.

NEA officials say that the electricity generation has increased due to the increase in the flow of water in the river, and the country has been exporting electricity during the night time. Stakeholders associated with the industries have criticized the government stating that there is no point in exporting electricity when it is unable to meet the domestic demand.

Ramesh Aggarwal, owner of Jagdamba Enterprises which manufactures iron rods, says the Bara-Parsa industrial corridor is currently facing 10 to 12 hours of unannounced load-shedding each day.

The industrialists complained that frequent tripping has hit the industry more than unannounced load-shedding. Tripping is the problem of sudden power outages. "Due to the repeated and unannounced power cuts, the raw material in the production process are being wasted and causing more damage," Agarwal said.

According to the industrialists, a single power trip in the iron industry causes a loss of Rs 100,000. Entrepreneurs say that the electricity has been tripping every hour.

Dipesh Agarwal, chairman of the Madhesh Province chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that raw materials are wasted due to frequent tripping and it is also causing damage to the industrial equipment.

Chairman Agarwal also said that there has been some improvement in the power supply after the recent rainfall incidents have increased water flow in the rivers for the past few days. "Unannounced load-shedding has decreased, but it has not gone away entirely," he said.

The weak transmission line of the authority has been cited as the reason for the frequent power outages in the industry. The NEA has been saying that the construction of transmission lines and substations has been prioritized to facilitate electricity supply in this corridor.

The NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising, who recently came to monitor the infrastructure improvement work, said that the NEA is committed to supply quality electricity to the industrial corridors as well as domestic customers of Bara-Parsa area by doubling the capacity of the transmission lines.

NEA officials say that due to the current demand of 300 megawatts of electricity in Birganj area, the supply has become problematic due to the power imported from the 132 KV Parwanipur-Raxaul transmission line.

According to Bishwamitra Kalwar, a food entrepreneur, the industries that have opened in the Birgunj to Pokharia section are also facing problems due to the indiscriminate power cuts.

“It has become difficult to run the industry due to unannounced load shedding. Also, there is no demand in the market, and on top of that, there is another problem in production, which is not having electricity," said Kalwar, Managing Director of New Om Food Industry.

Prabhat Rungta, a pharmaceutical industrialist, also says that the industries are in crisis due to frequent power cuts.

“The production has been affected by unannounced load shedding. The raw material in the process is wasted. There are also problems in workers’ management. Power cut has become one major problem for the industry, which is facing an all-round crisis," he said.

Industrialists from Biratnagar have also said that loadshedding is still happening for 12 hours in Sunsari Morang Industrial Corridor.

The owner of Premier Steel, Shaurav Sharda, said due to continuous power cuts without information, the industry's molding machines had to be heated repeatedly.

About 500 large, medium and small industries are operating in the Sunsari-Morang industrial corridor. Large, especially iron industries have been consuming more electricity. Currently, there is load shedding for 12 hours at night in the same industry.

Ramesh Rathi, director of Swastik Iron, said that it would be a relief if the government announced the schedule of load shedding. He said that the industry is losing millions of rupees daily due to load shedding for 8 to 10 hours every day.

According to him, the production of the industry has dropped to 40 percent due to irregular power supply. He commented that talking about selling electricity to other countries when the domestic demand cannot be met is simply a big joke.

Mahesh Pokharel, head of administration of Reliance Spinning Mills, said that unannounced loadshedding has affected the industries that have to run 24 hours a day. Reliance, which operated in three shifts, has now been limited to two shifts. According to him, production has decreased by 35 percent. “Laborers have not found work. If this situation continues, the industry will have to lay off 400 workers,” said Pokharel.

Ashutosh Yadav, Head of the accounts section of Hulas Wire Industries, said that in February, power supply was stopped for only 4 hours at night, but now they have to face 12 hours of unannounced load shedding.

He said that it is not practical to sell electricity to others when there is load-shedding in one's own industry. “The government should first pay attention to the demand of its own country,” he added.

According to Roshan Khadka, Head of Duhabi Grid of Nepal Electricity Authority, 30 MW of electricity is not enough in Sunsari Morang Industrial Corridor.

According to the authority, the electricity demand of Koshi region is 340 MW. Currently, as the water level in the river has not increased, electricity generation is not at full capacity, and only 310 MW is being supplied.

Khadka said, "Due to technical problems in power plants and transmission lines, the balance of demand and supply sometimes deteriorates. However, we are working to ensure that the supply in the industrial corridor continues as much as possible.”

Meanwhile, the Morang Industry and Trade Association has issued a statement and requested the government to sell the remaining electricity to India and Bangladesh after meeting domestic demand first. The president of the association, Anupam Rathi, said that the industries of Sunsari Morang Industrial Corridor can survive only if the government plans to meet the domestic demand and the export surplus electricity.