Kathmandu, June 25: The government has made it clear that works on the Budhigandaki Hydroelectricity Project have been pursued with the concept of moving forward the project as per the engineering, procurement, construction and financing (EPCF) modality.
The project with a capacity of generating a total 1200 megawatts power is a ‘national pride’ project. The construction cost of the project is Rs 273 billion. The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has held discussions with the Chinese Gezhouba Engineering and Construction Company three times regarding the development of the project since last September as per the decision of the Council of Ministers to give this responsibility to the Ministry.
However, no bilateral talks have been held between the Ministry and the Ghezouba Company lately. Addressing the various queries related to the various topics concerning the Ministry raised by the lawmakers in the meeting of the House of Representatives on Monday (June 24) in course of deliberations on the Appropriation Bill, 2076, Energy Minister Barshaman Pun reiterated that the Ministry has the concept of developing mega projects like the Budhigandaki Project as per the national interests.
He said the construction of the Project would be started by selecting an appropriate construction modality as it is an important and strategically significant project. He denied that there was any power play and behind the scene machinations regarding awarding the contract of the project.
The Minister urged the lawmakers not to doubt any foul play in the Project as it would be moved forward keeping the national interest in the centre. Stating that the government was thinking of moving ahead the construction of big and reservoir-type hydroelectricity projects by selecting construction companies with good track record, he said, “Additional around 200 megawatts power would be added in the central transmission grid of the Nepal Electricity Authority by the end of the current fiscal year.” RSS
