The government has decided to award the contract to construct the Lower Arun Hydropower Project to SJVN, an Indian company.
The 46th meeting of Investment Board Nepal (IBN) chaired by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli held at the PM's official residence in Baluwatar decided to award the contract to the Indian company to develop the hydropower project on build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model under the concept of public-private partnership.
According to IBN, the Indian company was chosen on the basis of an assessment of the listed companies selected through an international bidding process.
The proposed hydro project with 679 Mega Watt (MW) capacity will be built in Sankhuwasabha and Bhojpur districts of Province 1.
The government of Nepal had proposed the hydropower project at the Nepal Investment Summit 2019.
Moreover, the meeting has decided to nominate Rajesh Kazi Shrestha, Hari Bhakta Sharma and Bhawani Rana as special members of IBN while Bal Krishna Shiwakoti has been nominated as invitee member.
On the occasion, PM Oli stressed the need to come up with a plan for power generation as well as power consumption for which he issued a directive to the government officials of the concerned sectors to cooperate for timely implementation of infrastructure projects.
On the occasion, IBN Chief Executive Officer Sushil Bhatta apprised the meeting of the IBN's strategies, bank projects, focal point service and Knowledge Management Portal (KMP) as per the directive issued by the previous meeting.
Also present in the meeting were IBN Vice-chairperson and Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel and other members including Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Lekhraj Bhatta, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, National Planning Commission Vice-chair Pushpa Raj Kandel, Chief Secretary of the Government of Nepal Shanker Das Bairagi, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Mahaprasad Adhikari and other high-ranking government officials.
