Kathmandu, October 6
It has been around 13 years since the government assigned India’s GMR Group to construct the Upper Karnali Hydropower Project. However, the company is yet to manage funds for the ambitious project.
Further, the government is not decided about the future of the project.
Dharmendra Mishra, the spokesperson for the Investment Board of Nepal, the extended deadline given to the company for the financial closure expired in 2018. As other infrastructure projects with big foreign investments, the hydro project also falls under the board’s jurisdiction.
The government has neither extended the deadline nor announced the annulment of the contract, letting the company delay further. Mishra claims the company is regularly communicating with the board about the progress.
Until last year, the company was claiming the funds would be collected after signing a power purchase agreement with the Bangladeshi government for the export of 500 megawatts of power. In October 2019, the company had said preparations to sign the PPA were at the last stage.
But now, the company says the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the project as well as preparations to sign the agreement with Bangladesh.
