NEA, HBL ink Rs 6b deal

BY THIRA L BHUSAL
KATHMANDU, JULY 17

The 309-megawatt (MW) Upper Tamakoshi hydroelectric project made one more significant step towards materializing after Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and Himalayan Bank Ltd (HBL) Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in connection with investment in the project.

A consortium of 10 commercial banks of which HBL is to be the lead bank, will mobilize six billion rupees for the project. Arjun Karki, Executive Director of NEA, and Ashok SJB Rana, Chief Executive Officer of HBL, singed the MoU on Wednesday at a program organized at NEA premises.

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has already decided to invest Rs 12 billion in the project and it also signed a MoU with NEA a few months back.

"Now we need around three to four billion rupees more for the project," said Karki at the signing function, adding, "Also, talks are underway with Rastriya Beema Sansthan and the Citizens' Investment Fund for arranging more funds for the project."

"Hence, we can very confidently arrange the financing arrangement and take the project ahead." The project's total estimated cost is Rs 27 billion.

He said this development has shown that Nepalis can quite efficiently build big hydroelectric projects on their own. "The commercial banks' support has boosted our confidence and indicated ample opportunity in the local markets," he said. Rana of HBL said the prospect of financing such a big project was a great oppertunity for local banks. "This is a good opportunity to prove one’s capacity because it is the first big project to be built with the investment of Nepali banks alone," Rana added.

Upper Tamakoshi located in the northern part of Dolakha district is a run-of-river project.
The project is taken as an ideal one in terms of cost and location.
NEA, which holds the license for the project, plans to complete it by 2013 BS for selling power entirely inside Nepal.

"We are six months behind the scheduled plan," Karki said, adding that NEA is going to call for a tender bid in a month to construct the tunnel.

Karki urged commercial banks to invest in building the transmission lines required in several parts of the country.

From: THE KATHMANDU POST