Kathmandu, Jan 24: The investment framework of the Budhigandaki Hydropower Project, a national pride project, has been finalized. The total cost of the project will be equal to nearly Rs 302 billion. The government will have to spend Rs 73 billion on environmental and social protection. Of that, Rs 43 billion have been distributed so far under the heading of compensation to the local people.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has given special priority to the project and instructed to the Ministry of Energy to speed it up.
In the discussion held on Wednesday at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, the overall investment framework of the project and the heads of government-owned financial institutions participated. According to the latest structure, for the next 10 years, an amount equal to Rs. 179 billion will be generated from the current tax regime under import of energy. The government has been collecting Rs 10 per liter on petroleum products through infrastructure tax at the customs point itself.
Similarly, the government itself will invest Rs 90 billion. Arrangements have been made to raise fund worth Rs 32 billion as loans at commercial interest rates.
For the project, an amount equal to Rs. 5 billion in the financial year 2081-82, and Rs 8 billion in the financial year 2082-83 will be required. Dr Jagat Shrestha, the Coordinator of Budhigandaki Hydropower Project, informed that the matter of which year and how much amount will be required has been carefully decided.
In the project, it is proposed to invest Rs. 35 billion from Nepal Electricity Authority and Rs. 10 billion each from Employee Provident Fund, Citizen Investment Trust and Nepal Telecom. Similarly, an investment framework has been proposed in which the insurance company will invest Rs 5 billion, the Social Security Fund will invest Rs 1 billion and the project-affected Dhading and Gorkha residents will invest Rs 30 billion.
Similarly, Hydro Electricity Investment and Development Company will also invest on the project. In today’s discussion, Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet requested the government-owned financial institutions to invest in the project as it is a project of national pride.”If everyone makes a collective effort, there is no problem in raising investment for this project,” he said.
Energy Secretary Gopal Sigdel said that since it is an important project, raising investment from internal reources will send an important message.
After a confusion, it was decided to build the project with indigenous investment. The project will be built on the Budhigandaki river that flows through the border of Dhading and Gorkha district. The French company Tractbell submitted the detailed project report (DPR) of the project in 2014.
The Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government had previously decided to build the project with domestic investment, which has been caught in political confusion, saying that sometimes it is a domestic investment, and sometimes it is a foreign investment. Fourteen villages of Dhading and 13 villages of Gorkha will be affected by the project. A 263 meter high dam will be constructed in the project. The ongoing feasibility study of the Project has recommended 1200 MW capacity plant with FSL 540 masl. #Nepal
