Twelve firms apply for power-trade letters of intent, but the law must change first

Twelve firms apply for cross-border power trade letters, but trading waits on a law change, Post reports

Twelve companies have applied for the letters of intent the government is offering private firms that want to trade electricity across Nepal's borders, The Kathmandu Post reported on Saturday. None of them can trade yet.

The Electricity Act has to be amended first. The energy ministry has sent the amending bill to the Ministry of Law for its consent, and the Cabinet must then endorse it, the Post said. It gave no date for either step. Private firms can get trading licences only after the law is changed, the Post said.

Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha decided on October 16 to issue the letters, OnlineKhabar English reported then. A letter does not by itself allow a firm to import, export or trade power, Republica reported. It is valid for two years at most, and holders report progress to the ministry every three months.

The Electricity Regulatory Commission set a transmission charge of 57 paisa a unit for the first time, Kantipur reported on October 1. Promoters want the charge revised, the Post said.

Why it matters: In August the Nepal Electricity Authority board approved a state-backed trader, Nepal Power Trading Company, selling up to 100 MW, pending the regulator's consent, while private applicants waited, the Post reported then. No report gives a date for the bill to reach the Cabinet, or says whether any letter has been issued yet.

New recruitment of workers for Saudi Arabia fell 57.2 percent in six months, Post reports

New recruitment of Nepali workers for Saudi Arabia fell 57.2 percent between mid-March and mid-September from the same period a year earlier, The Kathmandu Post reported, citing the Department of Foreign Employment. Workers there told the paper Houthi attacks have raised safety fears.

Mustang police count 7,846 tourists entering the district on Thursday and Friday, Kantipur reports

Police counted 7,846 tourists entering Mustang on Thursday and Friday, 3,033 and 4,813, Kantipur reported. From Ghatasthapana to Vijaya Dashami, 5,663 came in, 4,409 of them foreign.

Myagdi office puts the cost of rebuilding the flood-hit Beni-Darbang-Muna road at about Rs 90 million

The Infrastructure Development Office in Myagdi estimates about Rs 90 million to rebuild the Beni-Darbang-Muna road, damaged in about 22 places by the September rain, OnlineKhabar English and Kantipur reported.