Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Officials from the Ministry of Finance on Thursday held discussions with representatives of various development partners to seek investment for the Upper Arun Hydropower Project.
Representatives from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan International Cooperation Agency, German government, OPEC Fund, European Union, Kuwait Fund, Saudi Fund for Development, and European Investment Bank, among others, participated in the discussion.
Speaking at the event, Minister for Finance Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat said that the government had initially intended to develop the project with the investment of the World Bank. “However, due to various reasons, the project did not materialize,” he added.
He also said that the ADB has expressed interest in investing in the Dudhkoshi Reservoir Project and requested the Manil-based multilateral lender to expedite the process.
Stating that the country is still importing hydropower from India during the dry season, Mahat said Nepal needs to build more reservoir projects. He mentioned that a market for 10,000 MW of hydropower had been secured in India during Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s recent visit to the southern neighbor.
Representatives from the World Bank, ADB, JICA, and Saudi Fund for Development, among others, expressed their interest in investing in the project. Similarly, representatives from the German government expressed their interest in investing in transmission line projects.
The Upper Arun is a 1,061 MW hydropower project planned for the upper reaches of the Arun River in Sankhuwasabha district. It is a run-of-river project with optimized generating capacity with 6 hours peaking. The cabinet meeting held four years ago decided to implement the project through Upper Arun Hydropower Project, a subsidiary of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
The project’s estimated cost is $1.8 billion.
