Kathmandu, May 18 -- Nepal's Supreme Court has directed the government to increase the proportion of free electricity Nepal would receive from the 480 MW Phukot Karnali Hydropower Project in Kalikot, a mountain district in the Karnali province.

In May 2023, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the government-owned Vidhyut Utpadan Company Limited and India's state-owned National Hydroelectric Power Corporation.

Clause 5, sub-clause 5.1 of the agreement states that Nepal would receive 21.9 percent of the electricity generated free of cost once commercial production begins.

"The government should renegotiate the agreement under which Nepal is entitled to receive only 21.9 percent free electricity from a high-return proje...