Corrupting power

Subsidies for farmers have stopped even as the state fails to collect electricity dues from industrialists.

The energy ministry and the new leadership of the Nepal Electricity Authority have shown unusual lethargy in the recovery of billions of rupees 59 industrial and commercial firms owe to the utility. The government has failed to collect charges for uninterrupted electricity supply from dedicated feeders and trunk lines to the profit-making companies—the dues stem from the period between July 2015 and June 2022, at a time common consumers were reeling under up to 18 hours of power cuts a day.