Myagdi. Myagdi: The civil contract of the 40 MW Rahughat Hydropower Project under construction in Myagdi, a subsidiary of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), has been extended for the third time. Rahughat is the much-awaited project of Myagdi.

Jai Prakash Associates (JP), an Indian civil contractor company, had signed the contract on November 17, 2017 with a target to complete it in 45 months at a cost of Rs 6 billion. The deadline, which was extended for the first time in February 2022 and the second in February 2022, expired on June 27.

Ganesh KC, managing director of Raghuganga Hydropower, said that the contract with the civil contractor of Rahughat has been extended for the third time till November 27, 2025.

“The contractor had proposed to extend the deadline till December 31, 2025,” he said. The contractor cited natural calamities such as the corona epidemic, floods and landslides and lack of river-related construction materials as the reasons for the delay in the construction of the project.

The construction work of the project was affected due to the landslide of Bugle during the rainy season, which would block the road connecting the dam site and the flood near the under-construction dam. The Supreme Court had banned the extraction of stones, pebbles and sand from the Kaligandaki River for three years.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), which had signed an electromechanical contract for $10.293 million in October 2019, has not been able to import and install equipment at the power house as per the target. The contract with BHEL is valid till December 31.

Raju Bista, chief of Rahughat Hydropower Project, said that they are coordinating, facilitating and urging the civil and electromechanical contractors to carry out the work in coordination. According to him, the construction of Rahughat will be completed in December if the contractor works as per the action plan.

Bista said that the action plan completed on June 16 failed due to the delay of the contractors. Construction of dam at dagnam of Raghuganga rural municipality-4 and Jhin of ward no. 5, 6-km 270-metre long main tunnel and power house at Tilkenichaur has been completed 90 percent.

Rahughat Hydropower Project has been operated under the company’s concept and engineering procurement and contract (EPC) format with a concessional loan of US$ 67 million from The Import Export of India (EXIM) Bank and joint investment from The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and the Government of Nepal.

In 2072, due to poor financial condition, the contract with the old contractor IVRCL was terminated and the construction was carried out through a new process. The civil contractor Jai Prakash Associates (JP), which was selected last time, had started digging the approach road in June 2018 and the tunnel in June 2018.

The project had signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) in April 2018 with a target of generating 245,93,034 units of electricity annually. The electricity generated from Rahughat will be connected to the 220 kV (double circuit) Dana-Kusma transmission line under the Kaligandaki Corridor to connect it to the central grid. Four towers and transmission lines have also been constructed.