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The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), which is currently importing electricity from India to manage the power supply within the country, is gearing up for electricity export to its southern neighbor from the third week of May. As the water level in the rivers is increasing with the start of pre-monsoon rainfall and melting of snow due to summer heat, NEA has said that electricity generation from big power plants will increase, enabling it to start power export from the third week of May. The authority started to export electricity to India last year from the first week of June. As the installed capacity of electricity has increased by 700MW over the past year, NEA believes it can export more electricity this year compared to last year. NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising said that the state-owned power utility will start exporting electricity from the third week of May. "As the pre-monsoon season is approaching, the flow of water in the rivers will increase," said Ghising, "We have started making our internal preparations accordingly." According to NEA, there have been rains across the country in the last two weeks and electricity generation has also increased. The authority claims that electricity generation will further increase after the pre-monsoon begins. Although Nepal has started exporting surplus electricity to India during the wet season, it has to import electricity in the dry season to meet the power demand. It is because almost all of the power production in the country is based on run-of-the-river hydropower plants. The dry season runs from December to April while the wet season lasts from May to November. According to NEA, 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. During the wet season, when there is more water in the river, the electricity generation is also higher. At that time, the production is more than the demand in Nepal. The excess electricity is exported to India. Now, the NEA plans to export 1,200 MW this year to India. The NEA has been selling electricity in the day-ahead market of Indian Energy Exchange Limited (IX) 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 can be able to export power according to its target. As per NEA's estimation, the country's installed capacity will reach 2,800 MW by this wet season. With peak electricity demand in Nepal around 1,750 MW, the NEA believes it can export up to 1,200 MW during the wet season. Nepal earned over Rs 11 billion by supplying excess power to India from early June to mid-December, 2022. Nepal first started exporting power to India in early November 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 sold 1.35 billion units of electricity to India since then and earned Rs 11.16 billion. The power was sold at a rate between Rs 6.58 and Rs 12.15 a unit. NEA earned Rs 2.83 billion from exports from July to the end of the last fiscal year 2021/22 and an additional Rs 8.32 billion since the start of the new fiscal year 2022/23. The authority has set a target of Rs 16 billion within the current fiscal after resuming exports in May.

The government has amended the Transport Management Procedures Guidelines 2060 BS to remove the legal hurdles to registering vehicles manufactured and assembled in Nepal. The latest move of the government came after the Nepali electric two-wheeler company Yatri Motorcycles warned to cease its production as older rules continue to prevent registration of domestically manufactured vehicles. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal instructed to amend the guidelines to remove the legal complications for domestic vehicle manufacturers. Issuing a notice on Thursday, the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) said manufacturers can now register their vehicles after the government revised the guidelines and added a point '11.1.9' to it which allows the registration of vehicles that are assembled in Nepal by importing parts from abroad or are fully manufactured in the country. After the amendment of the guidelines, producers have been exempted from submitting proof of opening the letter of credit (LC) for the registration of vehicles. The revision of the guidelines has cleared the way to register all types of electric, petrol and diesel vehicles made in Nepal.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 500 per tola in the domestic market on Friday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 109, 100 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 109, 600 per tola on Wednesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 108, 600 per tola. It was traded at Rs 109, 100. Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,410 per tola today.

The government is planning to redefine the jurisdiction of the motorway (road) according to the country's federal structure. The move to re-classification the jurisdiction of each government has come at a time when confusion and duplication have prevailed among the three tiers of the government over the responsibility of roads. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) has started the process to reclassify the jurisdiction of motorable roads that are being operated and are under construction. After the country adopted the federal system of governance, the government in May 2018 determined the jurisdiction of each government by classifying the roads. However, disputes related to jurisdiction between the federal, provincial, and local levels have emerged in many road projects. As confusion continues to exist, all three tiers of the government have been allocating budgets for the same road project. To end this dilemma, MoPIT has started the process to reclassify the roads to clearly define the jurisdiction of each government. Principally, there is a policy arrangement that national highways should be looked after and operated by the federal government, province-level highways by the provincial government and local-level roads by the local level. As per the Appendix 5 of the Constitution of Nepal, only national highways come under the purview of the federal government. This means other smaller highways and roads and bridges are the responsibility of provincial or local governments. However, the policy is not followed. Even eight years after the constitution promulgation and five years after the elections that installed three tiers of the government, not all the smaller road projects have been handed over to the provincial governments and local levels. MoPIT has formed a committee headed by Joint Secretary Arjun Jung Thapa that has already started its task to reclassify the roads. Currently, there are around 80 national highways including the Prithvi Highway, East-West Highway, North-South Corridors, and Mid-Hill Highway. According to Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Prakash Jwala, the reclassification of roads will end the confusion over the jurisdiction of roads that has hampered the development of roadways connectivity in the country. "In some roads, all three governments are working, allocating budgets while in some important road projects, none of the governments have allocated resources," said Jwala. "Now, we will prepare a clear policy plan that will define the jurisdiction." Govt to extend renewal time of driving license The government is extending the period for renewing driving licenses to 10 years from the current five years. In a press meet organized at MoPIT on Tuesday, minister Jwala informed that the process of extending the driving license renewal period to 10 years has been moved forward. He said that the ministry has decided to extend the renewal period after holding discussions with all agencies concerned.