Kathmandu, Dec 2 (IANS): Nepal has begun buying an additional 30 MW of power from India in a bid to ease the chronic power shortage in the country during winter, officials said Monday.

Nepal faces up to 16 hours of load-shedding during the season.

"Since Sunday, we have added an additional 30 MW power from India, purchased from the Power Trading Corporation of India," said Bhuwan Kumar Chetteri, manager of the system operation department of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

The authority is the sole entity for generating and distributing power in the country.

The Power Trading Corporation of India has sold the power to Nepal at a rate of Rs.3.75 (NRs.6) per unit. The additional power import takes Nepal's total import from India to 165 MW.

Nepal has been requesting India to provide at least 250 MW to meet its increasing power deficit.

"We are in a process to import additional power from various cross border points at this juncture as many cross border lines are being maintained from both sides," Chetteri told IANS.

Nepal has also been importing power from Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, he said.

Several upgradation and revamp projects are underway to import power from other Indian states as well, he added.

The NEA is aiming to bring down load-shedding to 12 hours this winter by getting more power from India.

Currently, there is a shortfall of 350 MW to meet the requirements as existing capacity is just around 700 MW.

Measures are being taken to reduce power demand, including operating some multi-fuel plants and revamping existing power plants.

Officials said Nepal pays around Rs.22 billion every year for procuring power from India, which includes importing inverters and diesel generators.