Power exports to India earn Rs 5.93 billion in Asoj, and Bangladesh sales resume

Power exports to India earn Rs 5.93 billion in Asoj, and sales to Bangladesh resume

The Nepal Electricity Authority earned Rs 5.925 billion from electricity sold to India in Asoj, the month to mid-October, Kantipur reported from the authority's load dispatch data. It shipped about 633.99 million units.

That is Rs 962 million, or 19.4 percent, more than in Asoj last year, when exports brought in Rs 4.963 billion. It is also Rs 832.5 million above Bhadau's Rs 5.0925 billion. About two-thirds of the month's sales went through bilateral agreements and the rest through the Indian Energy Exchange, OnlineKhabar English reported. Over Saun, Bhadau and Asoj, the first three months of the fiscal year, exports came to Rs 16.15 billion.

Sales to Bangladesh are back. The 40 MW flow, carried over India's transmission lines, restarted on Friday evening, October 23, according to OnlineKhabar English. The Kathmandu Post reported that the trade had stopped after the August 26 Bhotekoshi flood damaged the Trishuli and Chilime plants.

The Post said the five-year agreement with Bangladesh, signed in October 2024, covers supply from June 15 to November 15 each year.

Why it matters: The flood cut Nepal's exports from about 1,000 MW in the wet season to about 650 MW, the Post reported in September. None of the reports gives Bangladesh volumes or earnings for Asoj.

Citizens Bank says services it suspended over the PHP flaw are back

Citizens Bank International has restored all the services it suspended as a precaution over the global PHP vulnerability, its chief executive said in a message carried by Bizshala on Sunday. The bank did not say when they were suspended or restored.

Gold falls 4 percent to Rs 278,500 a tola

Fine gold was fixed at Rs 278,500 a tola on Sunday, down Rs 11,700 from Rs 290,200 on Monday, October 19, OnlineKhabar reported. That is a fall of 4.0 percent.

Silver lost Rs 230 to Rs 3,955 a tola, or 5.5 percent, so in percentage terms it fell further than gold. Tejabi gold was quoted at Rs 277,800, according to ShareSansar. The gold and silver dealers' federation put the fall down to lower international prices, OnlineKhabar reported.

Cement exports drop 38 percent in two months while clinker exports rise, Kantipur reports

Nepal exported Rs 280.3 million of ready-made cement in Saun and Bhadau, the first two months of FY 2083/84, against Rs 451.3 million in the same months a year earlier, Kantipur reported from customs data. That is a fall of 37.9 percent.

Clinker went the other way. Its exports rose to Rs 146 million from Rs 99.7 million, about 46 percent.

Two former industry chairs told the paper that delays in renewing India's BIS quality certificates and cuts to government cash incentives were behind the fall in cement. Last fiscal year cement exports earned Rs 2.04 billion, down from Rs 2.22 billion, even though volume rose to 923,376 tonnes from 356,473.

Why it matters: The report gives no tonnage for the two months, so it cannot say how much of this year's fall is volume and how much price. The report does not say whether the incentives will be restored.

Kathmandu chicken sellers cut prices by Rs 10 to Rs 15 a kg from Monday

The National Chicken Sellers Association cut live chicken in Kathmandu to Rs 280 a kg from Rs 290, and ready meat to Rs 385 from Rs 400, from Monday, Bizshala reported. It cited weak demand after Dashain.

Kalimati market takes in 2.79 million kg of produce over Dashain week

Kalimati market received 2,794,221 kg of vegetables, fruit, spices, fish and other goods from October 17 to 24, the market board said, as OnlineKhabar English reported. Green vegetables made up 2.19 million kg.

Crews reopen Khorlabensi on the flood-hit Larke road in Gorkha

The Gorkha Road Project has cleared Khorlabensi with a bypass and is removing debris at Tatopani on the Benighat-Arughat-Larke road, OnlineKhabar English reported. A project engineer said he expected the road to Dobhan to open by Sunday evening.

Adaptation Fund board approves three early-stage Nepal-linked proposals, Bizshala reports

The Adaptation Fund's board approved three proposals at concept or pre-concept stage on Friday, among them GREEN-Koshi ($9.93 million) and a UN-Habitat programme in Lumbini ($5 million), Bizshala reported. These are early-stage approvals, not funded projects.