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The final agreement on a long-term electricity trade deal between Nepal and India could be realized within this fiscal year. According to Energy Ministry officials, preparations are being made to sign the final agreement within Ashad (mid-July). The draft of the final agreement on long-term electricity trade between Nepal and India has also reached the Indian cabinet. Once the agreement is endorsed by the Indian cabinet, the final agreement on long-term electricity trade between India and Nepal will be signed, according to Energy Ministry officials. “Once the draft is endorsed by the Indian cabinet, the final agreement will be signed,” said Madhu Bhetuwal, spokesperson at the Energy Ministry. “The final draft has already been approved by our cabinet.” Nepal and India were supposed to sign the final agreement in the third week of June in New Delhi. While Energy Secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire did travel to New Delhi, the signing did not take place. Energy Ministry officials said the final deal signing was delayed as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was busy on an abroad visit. The signing of the agreement, according to the Energy Ministry will most probably take place in Kathmandu. Energy Secretary Ghimire and his Indian counterpart Alok Kumar will sign the final agreement. Nepal and India had signed an initial agreement between Nepal and India at the energy secretary level on June 2 in New Delhi. During Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s India visit, the southern neighbor agreed to buy 10,000 MW of electricity from Nepal in the next 10 years. Nepal has been requesting the southern neighbor for a long-term power trade deal arguing that an inter-government agreement would lock in the market and end the unpredictability of the Indian market’s availability for electricity from Nepal in the long run. According to Bhetuwal, the agreement is an umbrella agreement that will pave the way for power trading agencies in Nepal and India such as Nepal Electricity Authority and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN) to enter into a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA).  The NEA and NVVN will sign a separate agreement for commercial deals. The long-term power deal has become of paramount importance for Nepal with the country's electricity generation capacity gradually increasing. If the market for Nepali electricity is not ensured, the country faces the risk of electricity spillage every year, especially during the wet season.  In the rainy season last year, the country’s electricity spillage reached as high as 800 MW during the festive period in October and November. The country’s generation capacity has already reached nearly 2,700 MW which requires more exports to India to avoid spillage in the rainy season when power plants start generating power at their full capacity. According to NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising, the country is expected to produce surplus energy of 1,000 MW in this wet season. The country’s power generation capacity is rising along with the completion of one after another power projects. The country’s power generation capacity is expected to rise to 2,853 MW by the end of the current fiscal year, according to NEA. The projected peak domestic demand for power in the current fiscal year is 2,036 MW. By the end of the next fiscal year 2023/24, the country’s electricity generation capacity is expected to rise further to 4,507 MW and to 5,251 MW by the end of fiscal 2024/25. Nepal exported power worth over Rs 11bn in the last wet season.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 53. 70 points to close at 2,097.29 points on Sunday. Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 12. 23 points to close at 390. 52 points. A total of 11,323,183-unit shares of 286 companies were traded for Rs 5. 08 billion. Meanwhile, BPW Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Likewise, Shrijanshil Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top loser with its price dropped by 9. 32 percent. At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 07 trillion.

A total of 476, 000 foreign tourists visited Nepal in the six months (January to June) of the current fiscal year 2022/23, according to the Nepal Tourism Board. The total number of visiting tourists in 2019 from January to June was 536,058. The number was a 97.79 percent surge than that in 2022 during the same period, and 16.93 percent decrease than that in 2019. However, in the following years, the tourism industry was marred by COVID-19 that broke out in 2019, with the number of visiting tourists decreasing. During the same period, the influx of visiting tourists dropped to 220,815 in 2020, 58,058 in 2021, and 240,901 in 2022.

When Investment Board Nepal (IBN) in March 2022, approved the investment proposal of Suryatara Cement Industry for setting up a cement factory in Surkhet, it was supposed to be the first cement plant in Karnali Province. However, even after 15 months of approval, Suryatara Cement has not shown any signs of going ahead with a Rs 14.27bn project. A few months ago, there was also a plan to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the company and the IBN. However, the IBN officials said the company has not come in contact with the board. It has been almost 15 months since the investment was approved. However, the industry has not come in contact, said a senior official at the IBN. The company on 31 March 2022, had received approval for investing Rs 14.27bn from the IBN. According to the IBN, after signing a MoU, the IBN, and Suryatara will have to sign the project implementation agreement. For this purpose, the company has to complete the financial closure. As per the rules, the company is required to sign the project implementation agreement with the board within two years of the approval of the investment. After selling stakes in Samrat Cement to Binod Chaudhary, Mukunda Timilsina, the main promoter of Suryatara Cement, planned for establishing a cement plant in Panchpuri Municipality of Surkhet, which was going to be the single largest investment in industry in Karnali Province. The company has aimed to bring the plant into operation within two years of starting the construction of infrastructure. Promoter Timilsina acknowledged that they are not in contact with the board. “Since the government did not guarantee the access road and electricity supply to the project site, we have not taken the project ahead,” said Timilsina. According to Timilsina, the then Finance Minister Janardan Sharma had promised to provide electricity and an access road for the project. “That commitment has not been honored by the government,” he said. It has been estimated that about 20 MW of electricity will be required to run the plant; for which a 26-kilometer-long 132 KV transmission line needs to be built from Lamki Chuha in Kailali. Suryatara received approval for investment from IBN to operate a cement plant in Surkhet as a domestic investment. According to the company, Nepali banks have already committed to invest in the project and loans will be sought at the ratio of 80 percent of the total investment. The production capacity of the proposed cement plant has been estimated at 3,000 tons (60,000 sacks) daily. The company has planned to supply the cement to districts in Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces. Suryatara has already purchased nearly 40 bighas of land to set up the cement plant. Similarly, it has been confirmed that limestone will be brought to Barahtal of Surkhet for the processing of the raw material.