Kathmandu. Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Deepak Khadka has said that the government is making efforts to create an environment of investment in the energy sector.

Speaking at a programme organized at the Ministry of Energy on the eve of the ‘Sudurpaschim Province Investment and Development Conference’ to be held in Dhangadhi on December 19 and 25, he said the ministry has accorded high priority to policy reforms for the development of the energy sector.

“We are in the law-making stage after the promulgation of the constitution and the pace at which the laws should have been formulated has not been completed yet,” he said, adding that the government has given high priority to policy reforms for the development of the energy sector.

Minister Khadka opined that it was a positive aspect for all the provinces to take concern and concern about how their provinces could be empowered and strengthened after the country went into federalism. “The government has moved ahead in the economic development of the country by collaborating and coordinating with the private sector,” he said.

Energy Minister Khadka stressed the need for coordination between the laws framed by the federal and provincial governments to advance the development works. Stating that forest and land acquisition were problems during the construction of hydropower, he stressed the need for coordination among the three levels of government to solve it.

Minister Khadka stressed the need of resolving the problems seen during the development works as per the legal method. He said the government was working to build a prosperous country by making maximum use of the resources available in the country. According to him, the ministry wants to move ahead by taking several policy decisions in the energy sector.

Energy Minister Khadka said arrangements were being made for the private sector to construct transmission lines and purchase and sell electricity along with production for the development of the power sector. He said that the government is working effectively by making policy reforms.

Chief Minister of Sudurpaschim State, Kamal Bahadur Shah, said that the investment conference was being organized for the development and prosperity of the far-western region and urged all to join the conference. “The investment summit is not only focused on investment but we are working sincerely on the path of development of the province and providing employment to the country,” he said. He stressed the need for support and cooperation of the central government to make the investment summit a success.

Chief Secretary of Sudurpaschim Province, Dr Kamal Pokharel, said that the conference was organized to make the country prosperous by utilizing the resources properly.

The two-day conference will be held at The City Hall in Dhangadhi along with the inaugural session as well as various meetings and agreements on development works and investment possibilities. Director General of the Department of Power Development, Jeevchha Mandal, said that 108 hydropower projects of 8,241 MW capacity are moving ahead in some way or the other in the far-western state.

During the discussion, the companies developing the energy sector in the far-western state were informed about the problems faced by the power sector including transmission lines, land acquisition and forestry.