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The price of gold has increased by Rs 200 per tola in the domestic market on Monday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 111, 000 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 110,800 per tola on Sunday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 110, 450 per tola. It was traded at Rs 110, 250 per tola. Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,375 per tola today.

Nepal could discuss with Bangladesh to bring India into the development of the 683 MW Sunkoshi III Hydropower Project so as to ease the hurdles in power trade between Nepal and Bangladesh. Nepali officials who’ve reached Dhaka for the fifth meeting of the joint-secretary-level Joint Working Group and secretary-level Joint Steering Committee meetings between Nepal and Bangladesh, hinted they could discuss with the Bangladeshi side in this respect. The two-day meeting will start on May 15. However, the officials didn’t immediately confirm whether they would propose Bangladesh for involving the southern neighbor to develop the hydel project but said that discussion could be held regarding the matter. Nepal and Bangladesh have already agreed to develop the Sunkoshi III through a joint venture investment during the fourth meeting of the working group and a joint steering committee held in late August 2022. Nepal has not formally spoken to Bangladesh about bringing India into the development of the Sunkoshi III project. But Nepali officials believe involving India could help to break the deadlock over power export from Nepal to Bangladesh. “We have not yet discussed with Bangladesh about involving India to develop this project,” said a senior official of the energy ministry. “It is our thought that involving the Indian side would help to break the ice for the trilateral deal.” According to officials, there have been discussions within the Energy Ministry to involve India in the project. In the fourth meeting, both sides agreed that Nepal would provide an environmental impact assessment report of the Sunkoshi III project to the Bangladeshi side and later would respond with its opinion. The two sides also agreed to move forward with the process of establishing a joint venture company to develop the project. “As agreed in the last meeting, we have sent the feasibility study report and environmental impact assessment report of Sunkoshi III to Bangladesh,” said Madhu Bhetuwal, spokesperson at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation. During the meeting, the two sides will discuss bringing India on board for a trilateral agreement to ensure that Nepal and Bangladesh could trade electricity through the Indian territory. Both sides have made efforts at the highest level since Bangladesh, as an energy-hungry country, is seeking to diversify its energy sources. Bangladesh also wants to increase the share of clean energy in its energy mix and it has targeted electricity import from Nepal and Bhutan as a major priority for the purpose. Though Nepal and Bangladesh are not far away, they are not geographically connected. The two countries can trade electricity only through Indian territory. That’s why, bringing India on board for this purpose is very important. In recent years, India has been eager to forge power sector partnerships with Nepal and Bangladesh. According to the Joint Vision Statement on Power Sector Cooperation between Nepal and India issued in April last year, the two countries agreed to widen collaboration in the power sector and include partner nations under Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal (BBIN) framework. As a token, Nepal and Bangladesh last year agreed to request India for the passage of 40-50MW of electricity from Nepal to Bangladesh through the existing transmission infrastructure of India. Both sides have been making efforts to bring India on board for this purpose. But they are yet to secure a nod from the southern neighbor. “There will be further discussions on the matter based on each other countries’ discussions with the Indian side,” the energy ministry official said.

The gold is being traded at Rs 110, 800 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 110, 250 per tola. Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1, 375 per tola today.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 800 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 110, 800 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 111, 600 per tola on Thursday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 110, 250 per tola. Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,375 per tola today.