New head, old headache

The energy minister is doing the country a disservice by meddling in Nepal Electricity Authority.

Until eight years ago, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had for long been at a loss. The year 2017 was the turning point for the key state agency. It was the year Nepal ended hours-long residential load-shedding. The country made some encouraging progress in electricity generation in the past few years, electrifying rural parts of the country, upgrading and expanding transmission lines. More importantly, the country has shed its old dependence on electricity imported from India, as it has now started exporting energy not only to the southern neighbour but also to Bangladesh. This is one of the very few success stories of Nepal in recent years.