Nepal and NHPC ink hydropower MoU

Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) and India's NHPC Ltd on Thursday signed a pact for the construction of two large hydropower projects with a combined capacity of 1200 MW power in the Himalayan nation.

IBN CEO Sushil Bhatta and NHPC CMD Abhay Kumar Singh signed the Memorandum of Understanding in the presence of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu and Minister for Energy Pampha Bhushal.

This is the largest MoU signed between Nepal and India for the development of hydropower. The combined costs of the two projects - 750 MW West Seti hydropower and 450 MW Seti River 6 hydropower project - is estimated to be around USD 2.1 billion.

The NHPC has to complete the DPR preparation of West Seti & SR-6 Projects within a period of 24 months from issue of Survey Licenses by IBN.