Nepal Granted Power Generation License To Indian Company SJVNL

Nepal Granted Power Generation License To Indian Company- Details, Purpose, Background

Nepal Government has granted power generation license to Indian government-owned subsidiary company named Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVNL) from a 900-megawatt (MW) Arun-3 Hydropower Project located in eastern Nepal.

Nepal decision to grant permits was made in line with the decision taken in the 30th meeting of Investment Board Nepal (IBN) board of directors chaired by Prime Minister and KP Sharma Oli held on 11th May 2018 in Nepal.

The SJVNL Company has paid the IBN board with 5 million of Nepali Rupees as the license fee.

Indian PM Narendra Modi and his Nepali counterpart KP Sharma Oli are expected to jointly lay the foundation stone for the hydropower plant.

IBN also has granted various extensions for financial closure of the project. It includes local share and free energy to residents of the affected area.

Nepal government will also receive benefits worth Rs. (Nepali) 348 billion from the project as royalty, income tax, customs tariff and free energy in concession period of 25 years. The project will also provide 21.9% or 197MW s of the generated energy free of cost to Nepal.

Background

Arun-3 is the largest capacity hydropower project in the history of hydroelectricity that is scheduled to be constructed within the next 5 years (2023) on Aruna River.

Arun-3 hydropower project was supposed to be constructed with the assistance of World Bank Group some two decades back. However, protests against reservoir projects back then forced World Bank to drop the project. The project was later awarded to the Indian company through competitive bidding 10 years ago.