Nepal to construct West Seti hydel project itself, scraps Chinese contract

Nepal Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada, said the government of Nepal has decided to construct the 750 MW hydel project on its own scrapping the agreement with the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC).

Nepal Finance Minister made this announcement while unveiling the first federal budget for the fiscal year 2018-19.

Since 2012, Nepal's power project which was occupied by the Chinese Company, CWE Investment Corporation with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was stuck in limbo.

Hence, Nepali government made the decision of scrapping the deal on the suggestion given by a separate committee.

The reservoir type project located in far West Nepal couldn't be completed as the company demanded an increase in the power purchase rate.

A year ago, it had provided Nepali government with an alternative to reduce the production capacity to 600 MW, in case the government of Nepal was not willing to increase the price.

According to the pact signed between the two sides, the Chinese Company, under the CTGC will have a 75 percent stake in the project and the rest 25 percent will be held by the Nepal Electricity Authority.

The project with the reservoir covers Baitadi, Bajhang, Dadeldhura and the District of Nepal and is expected to produce about 1.8 billion units of electricity per year. The project with the 207-meter tall dam was estimated to cost 1.8 billion US Dollars including the interest charges or 1.4 Billion US Dollars excluding the interest charges.