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While the government has invested Rs 618bn in public enterprises (PEs), the returns have been minimal from such investments. The Annual Status Review of Public Enterprises published by the Finance Ministry shows the government received Rs 6.16bn in dividends from the PEs in FY 2021/22. According to the report which was presented to the federal parliament on Sunday, only 25 PEs are in profit while 17 are facing losses. The operating income of PEs has increased by 36.2 percent and reached Rs 575bn in the last fiscal year. However, compared to the previous fiscal, the net profit of PEs has decreased by 94.15 percent, according to the report. The net profit of PEs in FY 2021/22 stood at Rs 1.54bn only. In FY 2021/22, the net profit of 25 PEs increased by 33.65 percent while the net loss of 17 PEs rose by a staggering 610.96 percent. Among the PEs, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) earned Rs 13.37bn in profit in FY 2021/22 overtaking Nepal Telecom as the biggest profit earner; Nepal Telecom posted Rs 8.47bn profit in the last fiscal year. Meanwhile, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Citizen Investment Trust, and Deposit and Credit Guarantee Fund earned net profits of Rs 4.29bn, Rs 3.10bn, and Rs 3.01bn respectively. With PEs continuing to bleed taxpayers’ money, with no returns on the money invested from the state coffer, the government has put forward a plan to run PEs that are weak in terms of capital, and technology by the private sector. Finance Minister Prakash Saran Mahat made such a statement while unveiling the Economic Survey for FY 2022/23 on Sunday. “It is necessary to identify PEs that are not operating effectively and that do not need to be kept in the public sector. Such enterprises should be operated by the private sector with more capital technology and competent management,” said Mahat. The government in the third week of April this year, has also formed a task force to reform PEs under the leadership of former finance secretary Shankar Adhikari. The PEs in Nepal saw a drop in their profits post-Covid-19 pandemic, according to a recent report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). While the total profits of PEs were largely unchanged in the initial stage of the pandemic (the last four months of FY 2019/20), the profits reduced by 0.5 percent of GDP in FY 2020/21, as almost half of PEs ran in losses that year. Except for the PEs in the financial services sector, institutions in trading, public utility, and services sectors saw a big drop in profits or an increase in losses in FY 2020/21. Compared with the pre-pandemic FY 2018/19, PEs’ contribution to fiscal revenue (income tax and dividends) declined by 0.16 percentage points of GDP in FY 2020/21 and 0.23 percentage points in FY 2021/22.  

As in the past years, Nepal again faces the risk of spillage of electricity in the monsoon season this year with India yet to approve exporting more than 452.6 MW of electricity from its northern neighbor. According to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the country’s power generation capacity has already reached 2,650 MW, while the projected peak domestic demand for power in the current fiscal year is 2,036 MW. A senior NEA official said the country is expected to see surplus energy of 700-800 MW in the late night time while there will be excess power production of 400-500 MW in the daytime in the wet season that starts in June and lasts till October. “So, there is an urgent need for us that the Indian government should provide approval to sell more power generated by more power projects in Nepal,” said the NEA official. “There may be some announcement in this regard during the Prime Minister’s visit to India.” Prime Minister Dahal is scheduled to visit India from May 31 to June 3. Cooperation in the energy sector is one of the major agendas of the Prime Minister’s visit to India, according to officials. After the then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba visited India in April last year, the southern neighbor had allowed Nepal to export 325 MW of electricity from 39 MW earlier. With the advent of monsoon, water levels in the rivers are expected to rise soon enabling Nepal’s run-of-river type projects to boost their energy production. “We may be able to export more power regularly if the country sees the continued rainfalls in the days to come,” said the NEA official. On Friday last week, NEA sold 100 MW of electricity in the evening as power production rose due to the rainfalls but exports were discontinued on Saturday and Sunday. Monsoon in Nepal typically begins in mid-June and the country will see excess production of power on a regular basis. NEA expects the country’s power generation capacity to rise to 2,853 MW by the end of the current fiscal year. By the end of the next fiscal year in mid-July 2024, Nepal’s electricity generation capacity is expected to rise further to 4,507 MW and to 5,251 MW by mid-July 2025. Nepal’s domestic demand for power is expected to grow to 2,280 MW in mid-July 2024 and 2,568 MW in mid-July 2025, NEA has forecasted. This clear disparity between domestic demand and the generation of power has forced Nepal to find the outside market as long as domestic demand grows substantially with increased economic activities and industrial growth. Nepal is seeking not only the Indian market but also the Bangladeshi market as well and seeking India's help to send Nepal’s power to Bangladesh too. A private sector developer said that even if India gives the approval to sell more electricity in the Indian market, the possibility of spillage of power continues. Currently, Nepal has been allowed to sell power only in the day-ahead market of India’s exchange market. The day-ahead market means that Nepal can sell electricity once quantity and price are determined a day ahead of the trading day. But Energy Ministry officials say that the southern neighbor is positive for Nepal's entry into its real-time trading market as well. In such a market, Nepal can sell electricity anytime when there is a possibility of excess power in the country. “In the real-time market and day-ahead market, buyers may not buy Nepal’s electricity or may seek power at a very cheap price depending on availability of power supply in the market,” said the private power developer. “That’s why, a long-term power purchase agreement with India buyers is a must to ensure that electricity is not wasted in Nepal.” NEA had sought to sell electricity in a six-month deal but it didn’t not sign any agreement citing the lower prices offered by the potential buyers. But it didn’t make any efforts to sell power under a long-term deal this year. According to the private power developer, NEA should have sought bids from the Indian companies for a longer-term power purchase agreement. NEA resumes electricity export to India Nepal has resumed electricity export to India after the surge in domestic power production. According to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), it sold 600 MW hours of electricity to the day-ahead market of the Indian Energy Exchange on Saturday. With the water level in the rivers increasing with the start of pre-monsoon rainfall, the power generation from domestic hydropower plants has increased of late. NEA officials say the power generation from domestic power plants is currently around 1,300 MW. As most of the power production in the country is based on run-of-the-river hydropower plants, Nepal usually exports electricity to India during the wet season during which electricity production is at the fullest. Nepal has been selling electricity to India’s power exchange market since November 2021. NEA stopped power export to India in the second week of December last year following decrement in the water level in the rivers. The run-of-the-river type hydropower projects usually produce less than 40 percent of their installed capacity as water levels in the rivers decrease significantly during the dry season. NEA Spokesperson Suresh Bhattarai said that the power utility has resumed electricity export to the southern neighbor. “With the start of the pre-monsoon, power generation has been gradually increasing, enabling NEA to export excess electricity to India during night time,” he said. NEA has also stopped importing power from India from Friday. “The domestic demand has also been met due to the increase in domestic power generation,” said Bhattarai. NEA is targeting to export 1,200 MW this wet season to India. The authority has been selling electricity in the day-ahead market of Indian Energy Exchange Limited through daily bidding. Currently, the southern neighbor has allowed Nepal to sell 452.6 MW of electricity generated by 10 hydropower projects in the Indian power market. But the approvals given to the 10 hydropower projects need to be renewed every year. NEA has forwarded the list of additional projects including the 452 MW Upper Tamakoshi Project, the electricity of which it plans to sell to India. If the southern neighbor accepts the new list, the state-owned power utility will be able to export power according to its target. Nepal earned over Rs 11bn by supplying excess power to India from early June to mid-December, 2022. Nepal first started exporting power to India in early Nov 2021 through a competitive bidding process. But after exporting for a few weeks, Nepal stopped selling power to India in December amid a reduction in power generation in the dry season. Exports resumed in 2022 with the start of the monsoon in early June. The NEA has sold 1.35bn units of electricity to India since then and earned Rs 11.16bn. The power was sold at a rate between Rs 6.58 and Rs 12.15 a unit. NEA has reported that it earned Rs 2.83bn from exports from July to the end of the last fiscal year 2021/22 and an additional Rs 8.32bn since the start of the new fiscal year 2022/23. The authority has set a target of Rs 16bn within the current fiscal after resuming exports in May.

The gold is being traded at Rs 108, 100 per tola in the domestic market on Monday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 107, 600 per tola. Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1, 360 per tola today.

“I feel that my struggling days are behind me now,” Durga BK , a farmer from Deurali village of Rupa Rural Municipality-5, Kaski, told a village gathering recently. Not long ago, BK got into livestock farming and she seems quite hopeful for it to come. She has almost two dozen goats now. Her days pass tending these goats. BK is hopeful that she can easily earn Rs 500,000 by selling the goats. “There was a time when I used to wander around looking for a job. But nobody would employ me because I lacked skills,” says BK. “But now I feel that I can do something on my own.” Chitra Kumari Gurung, another villager, shared a similar story. Her husband’s income was not enough to raise the family including their children and elderly in-laws. She says her life transformed after local women got her into collective farming. These days she keeps herself busy taking care of her livestock. “The days of adversities ended for me after I got into livestock farming,” she told the meeting. BK and Gurung are among the cohort of women who have turned their lives around after getting into livestock farming through government grants and support. Until a few years ago, most of these women were jobless. Their daily lives revolved around household chores like cooking and raising children. “I almost went into depression because I had no income of my own and I had gotten into the habit of  overthinking everything,” said Goma Gurung. “The farming project has saved my life and many other women in this village.” Kho Maya Gurung, chairperson of Annapurna Livestock Agricultural Group, said they had to hire a professional to write a proposal for a grant. “We had no idea about proposal writing, so we hired a professional to help us with the proposal that we sent to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock,” she said. “The group members collaborate with one another and everything we have achieved so far is a result of teamwork.” There are several such farmers’ groups in Gandaki province, which have achieved success in livestock agriculture after participating in the grant program of Nepal Livestock Sector Innovation Project, supported by the World Bank and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. The project has been distributing grants for individual and group farmers. “This program has helped those farmers who wanted to do something innovative, but had been stopped due to the lack of funds,” said Sushil Khadka, agriculture expert of the project. Arjun Prasad Banjara, chairperson of Chakra Devi Agriculture Group from Pokhara-31, said they were thankful to the project for supporting them with funds and for boosting their confidence. Through collaboration with Aama Milan Cooperatives, the group is running a collective cow farm. Together, they raise almost 50 cows and make their earnings by selling milk and other dairy products. “I decided to continue to domesticate cows at my home after coming into contact with this farming group,” Shovakhar Subedi , a farmer from Begnas Taal area, said. “The group has helped me find a market and earn money.” Farmers associated with these groups said the project has opened many opportunities for them. Apshara Shrestha, secretary of Annapurna Livestock Agriculture Group, said these days their local governments ask the group to take responsibility for agriculture-related tasks. Dhan Bahadur Baruwal of Annapurna Rural Municipality of Myagdi said his livestock business was largely unproductive for almost a decade until his son Narayan, who had just returned home from foreign employment, suggested he ask governmental and non-governmental bodies for grants. “We were finally linked to the Nepal Livestock Sector Innovation Project of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, which supported us to run a goat farm,” he said. Today, the father-son duo have 120 goats. Around 500 livestock farms in different parts of the country are being run with grants from Nepal Livestock Sector Innovation Project. In Gandaki province alone, there are 55 group and 60 individual farmers who are being supported by the project.