NEA-Industrialists' disagreement endures in spite of PM Oli's order to return authority.

KATHMANDU: Ever before the new administration was formed on Monday, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and business leaders have been in constant communication to settle long-standing disagreements with arrears on trunk and dedicated lines. Even after several sessions, the discussions have not yielded any concrete outcomes. As of Sunday lunchtime, the energy for six industries that had their power cut off remained disconnected, despite the involvement of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

Minister Deepak Khadka pledged on July 15 to address the problems concerning trunk and dedicated lines upon taking office as the Minister of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation. The industrialists and NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising had separate briefings with Minister Khadka the next day. The businesspeople and the NEA leadership had a combined session on July 17.

Nonetheless, the industrialists and NEA announced that representative negotiations will take place on Thursday after both sides stuck to their respective stances. Regretfully, no such conversation took place on the appointed day.

Dedicated and trunk line arrears were another topic brought up during Thursday's Cabinet meeting. Prime Minister Oli declared that he would review the report of the commission that was established to settle the conflict and come up with a workable solution.

NEA Executive Director Ghising, Industry Minister Damodar Bhandari, Energy Minister Khadka, and businessmen including Pashupati Murarka and Amit More participated in a thorough conversation that Prime Minister Oli facilitated on Friday.

Prime Minister Oli promised to make a firm decision in the near future regarding the dedicated and trunk line arrears dispute. In order to restore electricity, Executive Director Ghising emphasized that the NEA board of directors decision was required.

To speed up the procedure, Prime Minister Oli ordered the board to meet on Friday. Members of the NEA board were summoned to an emergency meeting at the Ministry of Energy immediately after the meeting with the Prime Minister. A board member claims that the only thing discussed informally during the meeting was the policy and legal issues pertaining to the settlement of dedicated and trunk line arrears.

The order from Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to bring back power right away was ineffective. The Energy Minister stormed out of the NEA Board meeting angrily as Kulman Ghising asked for a formal letter to move forward.

The member stated, "The board meeting procedure is separate; the Minister called today's meeting as an emergency discussion." "We just talked about what could or could not be done. Regarding reconnecting the electricity, no decision was taken. The member also stated that the NEA board's decision and a formal letter from the government were required before power could be turned back on.

In a letter dated June 25, the NEA gave 61 industries 15 days to make good on their arrears. The remaining amount that the industrialists owe NEA is Rs 6.60 billion. The businessmen were instructed by the NEA to pay the electricity bill with a 25 percent extra, as the 60-day period had ended. The NEA started cutting the energy on July 9 after the deadline had passed.

As of right now, Hulas Steel, Jagadamba Steel, Ghorahi Cement, Reliance Spinning Mills, Jagadamba Spinning, and Arghakhanchi Cement have all lost power. Starting on June 14, the industrialists started to stop their own electricity in protest of the NEA's actions. Industrialist Murarka stated that the industrialists had begun reconnecting the electricity on their own, as per the Prime Minister's directive. Additionally, NEA has asserted that it is carrying out the Cabinet-appointed commission's recommendations.