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The government has planned to construct charging stations in collaboration with the private sector to promote the use of electric vehicles.

In the policy and programs presented by President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Tuesday, the government has planned to review the electricity tariff rate to increase electricity consumption and to gradually replace cooking gas.

The government is also planning to build large reservoir hydropower projects to ensure the supply of electricity 12 months.

An additional 715 MW of electricity will be added to the national power grid next year.

With the increase in the prices of daily essential commodities and petroleum products, lawmakers have registered a public importance proposal at the Parliament.

CPN-UML Chief Whip Bishal Bhattarai, lawmakers Rajendra Prasad Lingden and Ganesh Kumar Pahadi registered the urgent public importance proposal at the House of Representatives.

In the proposal, they have demanded the government's efforts to reduce leakage, commission and exorbitant taxes on cooking gas, petrol, diesel and kerosene.

The government has jacked up the prices of petroleum products two times in a span of two weeks.

The Joint Student Union has been staging phase-wise protests against the government's decision to hike the prices of petroleum products.

A Cabinet meeting endorsed the policy and programs of the government for the upcoming fiscal year.

The meeting held at the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's residence in Baluwatar on Tuesday decided to pass the policy and programs of the government.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari is scheduled to present the policy and programs of the government in the joint meeting of the House of Representatives and Nepal Assembly this afternoon.

The Parliament meeting has been called for 4 pm today.

Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal has said a new policy will be brought to increase power consumption in the domestic market.

Addressing an event in the capital city today, the energy minister said industries would be increased and e-vehicles and e-stoves would be promoted to increase electricity consumption in Nepal's domestic market.

Saying that the country's trade deficit was rising owing to huge amount of import of petroleum products, Bhusal argued that import of petroleum products could be substituted by electricity.

So far, in the current fiscal year, the country has imported petroleum products worth Rs 220 billion. Minister Bhusal also said foreign currency could be imported in the country by exporting surplus electricity. "In the current fiscal, 39 megawatts of power is being exported. "We are in a position to export electricity worth Rs 2 billion in the current fiscal," he added.