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India has approved electricity exports to Nepal to help address power shortages caused by extensive damage to hydropower projects during last month’s catastrophic floods.
The August 26 floods, triggered by a glacial mountain collapse along the China-Nepal border, killed more than 1,400 people in Nepal and Tibet.
More than 5,300 people remain missing in Nepal, including hundreds of workers at several hydropower projects.
India’s Ministry of Power said it would supply Nepal with up to 600 megawatts of electricity for 18 hours daily until the end of 2026.
The ministry said the decision would help Nepal meet its electricity needs during the crisis while strengthening the longstanding energy relationship between both countries.
“The approval will help Nepal meet its power requirements during this difficult period and further strengthen the close and longstanding energy cooperation between India and Nepal,” it said in a statement.
The volume of electricity to be supplied from January 2027 will be reviewed in December.
Nepal has significantly expanded electricity access over the past two decades. According to the International Energy Agency, four in five Nepalis lacked access to electricity at the turn of the century, while hydropower development has since connected nearly all of the country’s 30 million people to the grid.
Hydropower has also become an important source of Nepal’s exports to India and Bangladesh.
However, Nepal suspended electricity exports after the floods damaged at least 12 hydropower projects.
