Kathmandu, February 7: Two Nepali and five Indian commercial banks have agreed to invest a total of Rs 101.35 billion in the Arun-3 hydropower project.
An agreement to this effect was signed in the capital on Thursday (Feb 6). On Wednesday (Feb 5), Nepal Investment Board had approved the project financial management proposal submitted by the developer of the project- Sutlej Electricity Corporation of India.
As per the deal, the consortium of State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Export-Import Bank of India, Union Bank of India and Canara Bank will inject Rs 86 billion, while two Nepali commercial banks Everest and Nabil will put Rs 15.35 billion in the project.
So far, the 900-MW project has achieved 30 percent of physical progress and is expected to complete by 2023.
The project will include the construction of a 70m-tall and 466m-long concrete gravity dam on the Arun River.
Sutlej Electricity Corporation of India and the government of Nepal had signed a memorandum of understanding for the execution of Arun-3 0n a build-own-operate-transfer basis on March 2, 2008.
