The construction of a 154 km stretch of Dhalkebar-Inaruwa transmission line has been completed.
According to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), it has laid the 400 kV double-circuit transmission line connecting Dhalkebar of Dhanusha and Inaruwa of Sunsari. A total of 417 towers have been erected for the transmission line of Dhalkebar-Inaruwa segment.
The completed portion is one of the segments of Hetauda-Dhalkebar-Inaruwa transmission lines under the Nepal-India Electricity Transmission and Trade Project. The transmission lines pass through 10 districts encompassing the hill areas, Siwalik-Chure range and Terai regions that include Makwanpur, Bara, Rautahat, Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Siraha, Saptari, Udayapur and Sunsari.
The remaining 134 km long Hetauda-Dhalkebar segment is under construction. According to the NEA, fixing wires along 45 km of this segment has been completed till date.
NEA Managing Director Kulman Ghising said the infrastructure will help improve the quality of electricity supply. According to him, it will also support the country in the cross-border electricity trade.
At present, the existing transmission lines of Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur can supply only up to 800 MW of electricity to India. Provided the connection of Hetauda-Dhalkebar-Inaruwa is completed, it will help supply 4,000 MW of electricity.
The project was initiated a decade ago, while targeting to complete the construction within 30 months. However, it has been much delayed due to various factors, which include demands from local people for change in alignment, interim orders of the Supreme Court, procedural complexities in forest area, land use and approval of felling trees, and performance issues with the contractor.
The government and the NEA have been jointly working on the Nepal-India Electricity Transmission and Trade Project. The World Bank has provided concessional loans for the project which is estimated to cost US $170 million in total.
