Nepal will get 462.5 MW of ‘firm energy’ from Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project, a mega hydroelectric-cum-irrigation project which is being built jointly by Nepal and India.

This means Nepal will get minimum of 462.5 MW of electricity round the clock round the year. Firm energy is uninterruptable power that is supplied continuously all year round. 

During the two-day meeting of the Joint Expert Group—comprising of officials from both countries—that concluded on Thursday, it was decided that the project’s firm energy output would be 925  MW and Nepal would receive half.

“The meeting made the decision based on 50 years of hydrological data from 1962 to 2012,” said Dinesh Kumar Ghimire, joint secretary of the Energy Ministry who was also present at the. Earlier, India was proposing the firm energy of 767 MW of energy. 

However, the meeting failed to finalise the detailed project report (DPR) of the mega-project as Nepali officials participating in the meeting declined to provide water from the Mahakali River to Sarada River as demanded by the Indian side.