Kulman Ghising, the man who ended the decade long arduous load-shedding in the country has electrified 15 districts in total during his four reigning years.
KATHMANDU — When the Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority was appointed on September 13, 2073, there was load shedding for 14 hours every day nationwide. Nepal’s electricity capacity had dropped to only 800 MW. Tables have turned as today the installed capacity has reached 1400 MW and the days of load-shedding have long gone. The credit for this goes to none other than nation’s hero and Hem Bhadur Malla Award winner, NEA Managing Director, Kulman Ghising.
NEA’s customers’ count, which did not exceed 3 million for a period of 31 years, continued to add an average of 4.5 million annually during Ghising’s tenure. In the four years since Ghising took over the leadership of NEA, more than 1.8 million new customers have been added. The Electricity Authority and community electrification now have about 4.8 million customers.
Four years ago, there were only 2.97 million customers in both the groups, according to the 31st annual report of the authority. The report of NEA shows that an average of one to one and half lakh new customers have been added annually before 2072/73. Ghising has added about 40 percent of the total customers in the last four years. Out of a total of five and a half million customers on the community side, about 91 percent (500,000) customers have been added during his tenure. Access to electricity, which was only 62 percent of the population, has now reached 90 percent of the population in a span of four years.
Dozens of remote projects and 10,000 kilometers of transmission lines thorough
More than a dozen electricity expansion remote projects have been completed under Ghising’s leadership. Meanwhile, construction of 30 MW Chameliya, 60 MW Trishuli-3A and 14 MW Kulekhani-3 hydropower projects have been completed. The 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi, 111 MW Rasuwagadhi, and 57 MW Sanjen hydropower projects will be completed within the current fiscal year. The 40 MW Rahughat, 140 MW Tanahu and 37 MW Trishuli-3B projects have already been constructed.
Source: HydroReview
Similarly, Kabeli Corridor 132 KV, Attaria-Darchula 132 KV, Khimti-Dhalkebar 220 KV, Matatirtha-Trishuli 220 KV, Kataiya-Kushaha 132 KV and Raxaul-Parwanipur 132 KV transmission lines have also been completed during Ghising’s tenure.
Construction of 4,275 circuit kilometers of transmission line has been completed in four years. Before this, the transmission network had a total of 2,900 circuit kilometers for 30 years, 4,275 circuits in 4 years. The transmission network, which had a total of 2,900 circuit kilometers in the previous 30 years, has reached 4,275 circuit kilometers in four years. In just four years, an additional 50 percent of the broadcast network has been added. On the distribution side, more than 10,500 circuit kilometers have been completed.
Similarly, construction of 132 KV substation, Dhalkebar 220 KV substation, East Chitwan, and Solu Corridor substation has also been completed. The capacity of the substation has been increased, new connections have been constructed and upgraded to about 1000 small and large substations, while 2,552 MVA capacity has been added, of which there are about one thousand MVA capacity transmission substations.
Meanwhile, about 12,000 transformers have been added to the system to generate up to 2,000 MW of electricity. The work of laying electric wires underground has already started in Kathmandu. The work of the smart meter is also in the pipeline. Electricity exports to India have been partially resumed. Necessary infrastructures for electricity trade are being prepared.
Due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, not all of Ghising’s plans have been completed. The plan to supply quality electricity after the end of load shedding has not been completed. Plans to implement smart meters are also pending.
But in the campaign to digitalize NEA, NEA has now developed technology that can do 90 percent of the work online. For example, consumers have already implemented a system to pay online by checking the meter themselves.
Complete electrification of 15 districts
Out of 77 districts across the country, 15 districts have been fully electrified. In the last fiscal year alone, 11 districts have been fully electrified. Earlier, Parbat, Syangja, Kathmandu, and Bhaktapur were fully electrified. In the last fiscal year, Dhankuta, Sunsari, Siraha, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Bara, Parsa, Nuwakot, Kapilvastu, Gulmi and Bardiya have been fully electrified. Though NEA had set a target of fully electrifying 40 districts in the last fiscal year, the goal of electrification has been affected due to COVID-19.
The government has set a target of providing electricity service to every household by 2079 BS and increasing the annual per capita electricity consumption to 700 units. At present, per capita consumption is only 267 units.
115% jump in revenue
In 2015/16, the annual income of NEA was Rs. 35.72 billion. In the last fiscal year, the income has increased to Rs. 74.30 billion, making about 115 percent increment compared to four years back.
Due to the lockdown, the industry could not run for a long time and the business houses were closed for a long time. Because of which, the sale of electricity could not be done as per the target. Otherwise, it was estimated that the average income from electricity sales would be Rs 80 billion. Electricity sales have also doubled compared to four years ago. NEA, which used to sell 3.7 million MW of electricity four years ago, is now selling around 6.5 million MW of electricity.
Four Allegations in 4 years
1. Corruption in LED bulb purchase
The government decided to bring LED bulbs by purchasing from Jituji model. Kulman protested that the bulbs were being brought without competition, as per the Public Procurement Act. Ghising then broke into tears, saying in public that he was “ready to hang himself if he did it with bad intentions.” The man who illuminated the nation clarified that Jituji is being brought only for the purpose of bringing bulbs faster and helping in reducing load shedding. But then the procurement process was postponed in the middle.
2. Dedicated and trunk line cases
The NEA had sent the bill to the concerned industry, saying it was a discount bill after it was found that the industrial customers who have been getting electricity in the name of dedicated and trunk line since 2072 BS were paying the only normal tariff. After seeing the billions of rupees discount bill, the industrialists rushed to the court from the government. The question arose as to why Ghising did the billing only long after the report was submitted by the board of directors. During the discussion in the Accounts Committee, the committee had recommended taking action against the concerned officer of NEA saying that there was an irregularity in the name of dedicated lines. Even though the provision of dedicated lines has been abolished now, the dispute has not been resolved.
3. Amanlal Modi case
Source: YouTube
Aman Lal Modi, an MP elected from Morang, and Kulman Ghising had a falling out in the parliamentary committee. Modi had accused the organization of widespread corruption in the name of removing load shedding. Replying to that, Ghising said that he was ready to hang himself if it was proved that he had embezzled one rupee. Ghising-Modi Juhari came to the surface after being accused of being an MP.
4. Dispute case with locals of Nuwakot
Ghising had slapped the Trishuli-3B hub substation under construction in Nuwakot after some people obstructed the work, saying that the demand of the locals was not met. Ghising said that the work of the entire project was stopped for personal interest, even after fulfilling all the legitimate demands.
Reigning as the second chief executive to complete a four-year term
Ghising, who has added more than 400,000 customers annually, is celebrating the 35th anniversary of NEA. At the same time, his four-year term is coming to an end. Ghising is the second chief executive since 2000 to serve four consecutive years. Prior to this, Janaklal Karmacharya was the Chief Executive Officer for 4 years from 2001/02 to 2004/05.
Then Arjun Kumar Karki 3 years, Jitendra Jha and Mukesh Kafle 2/2 years, Dipendra Nath Sharma, Mahendra Lal Shrestha, Rameshwar Yadav, and Ram Chandra have been the chief executive for one/one year during the tenure.
Kulman holding his ground despite the political vicissitudes
Kulman, who has put an end to the country’s notorious load-shedding, has avoided falling prey to political tensions. During his tenure, four energy ministers, three prime ministers, and two secretaries were replaced, but no one dared to remove the applause from the people.
When Pushpa Kamal Dahal was the Prime Minister, Energy Minister Janardan Sharma had recommended the appointment of Kulman Ghising as the Chief Executive.
Then a government was formed under the leadership of Sher Bahadur Deuba. Mahendra Bahadur Shahi became the Minister of Energy. Shortly afterward, Deuba fired all ministers close to the then Maoists and appointed Kamal Thapa as the energy minister. After the parliamentary election, a government led by KP Oli was formed. Barshaman became the energy minister again. Kulman Ghising, on the other hand, continued to work.
