Kathmandu. The government has made it clear that the NEA is going to be established to make Budhigandaki Hydropower Project multipurpose and investable. In the budget for the coming fiscal year, an arrangement has been made to forward the project in the NEA model.

Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Biraj Bhakta Shrestha said the NEA model was brought to make the project more feasible. Talking to media persons in Kathmandu today, he said the multipurpose project is to operate irrigation, drinking water, fisheries and tourism as the expected return of investment of the state would be less if it was developed only as a hydropower project.

Minister Shrestha said that the Ministry has taken necessary initiatives to advance the work of the project with a total capacity of 1,200 MW in a parallel manner. According to him, the tender process has been forwarded for the construction of bridges and residential structures leading to the project site.

The necessary structure of the project has already been decided. Minister Shrestha clarified that the government has set the objective of making the project more efficient. He said that the government is making necessary coordination and facilitation in the context of confusion growing as the project has not moved ahead for long.

Stating that the project was in priority as it is close to the load center, Minister Shrestha clarified that the NEA mentioned in the budget was for that purpose. He said that the Energy Ministry has held discussions with all the ministries concerned regarding the project in an integrated manner. A plan has been put forward to construct a ring road in the area where the reservoir of the project will be located and to build tourism infrastructure.

According to the ‘Energy Consumption Growth and Export Strategy-2083 BS’, the project will be completed by 2091. The detailed project report (DPR) of the project was prepared by the French company Taxbel in 2014. The project will have a total height of 263 metres. The dam will be constructed two kilometers north of Benighat of Dhading.

The project is located near the load center in Kathmandu, Pokhara, Narayangadh and other places where there is high demand for electricity. The government had decided to establish a company for the construction of the project in June 2079. The government has put the construction of the project, which is considered important for the energy security of the country, in priority.

Around 8,117 households will be affected by the project. Around Rs 45 billion has been distributed to the project affected people so far. Similarly, 96 percent of the land acquisition has been completed. Although a separate procedure has been set for rehabilitation and relocation, it has not been implemented.

The government has enlisted the project in the national pride list. Initially, the project cost was supposed to be around Rs 260 billion, but now it has increased to around Rs 400 billion. Stakeholders have been commenting that the cost escalation has been due to policy confusion, delay in formulating the framework for investment construction and sluggishness in the decision-making process.

The project is expected to generate 3.38 billion units of electricity annually. The project is expected to generate revenue of Rs 31.48 billion annually from the sale of electricity. The license will be valid for 50 years.