Nepal has started selling electricity to Bangladesh again. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) restarted the 40 megawatt (MW) supply on the evening of October 23, using India’s transmission network. The exports had been stopped by the August 26 floods in the Bhotekoshi region.
The floods damaged infrastructure and hit generation at the two plants that had been approved to supply Bangladesh: the 24 MW Trishuli project and the 22.1 MW Chilime project.
Nepal’s power reaches Bangladesh through India, so it needed India’s approval to swap in other plants. The stop was not Bangladesh refusing to buy.
India’s Central Electricity Authority has now approved electricity from three projects: Solu, Kabeli-1 and Lower Modi. According to NEA reporting, they take the place of Trishuli, Devighat and Chilime in the arrangement. That lets Nepal keep supplying Bangladesh without waiting for the damaged plants to be repaired.
Nepal and Bangladesh have no direct transmission link. Power goes through India’s grid, so Indian approval is essential. The NEA and the Bangladesh Power Development Board signed a five-year agreement in October 2024.
Under it, Nepal supplies 40 MW daily from June 15 to November 15 each year. It gives Nepal a market for surplus electricity in the rainy season, when river flows and output are higher.
Nepal also sells power to India, and those sales are large. In September 2026 the NEA exported 633.99 million units to India, earning about Rs 5.925 billion. For July to September, export revenue was Rs 16.1513 billion. The power was sold under agreements with Haryana and Bihar and on India’s electricity exchange.
Nepal has proposed adding 20 MW to the Bangladesh supply. Progress has been held back by transmission capacity and the approvals needed for cross-border sales. Whether exports can expand depends on future approvals, grid capacity and how much power is available to sell.
