Budhigandaki Jalvidyut Company Formed To Develop 1200 MW Budhigandaki Reservoir Hydropower Project
September 4, 2022 | Investopaper
For the purpose of developing Budhigandaki Reservoir Hydropower Project, Budhigandaki Jalvidyut Company Limited has been registered in the office of the company registrar on Friday.
The government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba has decided to build the 1200 MW Budhigandaki Reservoir Hydropower Project through domestic investment in the company model.
Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Ministry of Finance and Nepal Electricity Authority are the prompters of the company. The hydropower company has the authorized capital of Rs. 20 billion. Out of it, the promoters of the company have agreed to invest Rs. 16 billion. Likewise, the company is planning to float shares worth Rs. 4 billion to the locals of project affected areas and the general public.
The Ministry of Energy will own 40 percent, the Ministry of Finance will have 24 percent shares and the Nepal Electricity Authority will possess 16 percent of the company. Similarly, the project affected locals and the general public will have 10-10 percent shares in the company.
NEA Engineering has estimated the cost of the Budhigandaki Reservoir Project to be around Rs. 332 billion.
The Budhigandaki project has been mired in frequent political disputes and repeated decisions by the government. Chairman of CPN Maoist Center Pushpa Kamal Dahal decided to give it to Gezhouba Group of China when he was the Prime Minister for the second time. But in 2074 BS, the government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba canceled it. Later, after the majority government was formed under the leadership of KP Sharma Oli, the project was handed to Gezhouba again which was again overturned by the current government formed under the leadership of Sher Bahadur Deuba.
According to the Ministry of Energy, about Rs. 35.5 billionhave been spent so far on the project, including distribution of compensation and resettlement.