Kathmandu, April 6
For the upcoming fiscal 2073-74, National Planning Commission is providing Rs 41 billion to the Ministry of Energy. NPC had allocated the same amount to this ministry for the fiscal 2072-73 as well.
But this allocation has failed to impress Energy Secretary Suman Prasad Sharma. He told Onlinekhabar they cannot build any hydropower project with this money.
Within this budget ceiling, we can neither develop a hydel nor can we construct a transmission line, he said, adding: We are discussing the possibility of increasing the budget ceiling or allocating separate budget for special projects.
People have been saying that government itself should develop the 1,200-MW Budhigandaki hydropower project. The project development committee says it requires Rs 43 billion for providing compensation to land owners whose land the project will reclaim.
During the next fiscal, the government will have to do a lot of work, not only in hydropower generation but also in the construction of transmission lines, according to Sharma. Without additional budget, completing these works may not be possible, says Sharma. The energy sector will require a huge budget if the government is to implement its 10-year energy strategy aimed at ending the energy crisis, he says.
Expenditure paltry
But the energy ministry is not spending much on energy projects. Within eight months of the current fiscal, it has spent about 10 per cent of the budget allocated for the year. Sharma informed: As of the third week of Chaitra, the ministry has spent around five billion rupees out of the 41 billion rupees allocated to it.
There was a grave energy crisis resulting from the Indian blockade, so construction of hydropower projects came to a halt, Sharma pointed, adding: Because of this, the ministry could not spend the budget.
