AsiaElec: Nepal to benefit from large-scale Indian hydro project

The Investment Board Nepal (IBN) last week finally gave approval to long-standing development plans co-sponsored by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) India, a state-owned entity under the Ministry of Power and the state government of Himachal Pradesh, specialising in hydroelectric projects on the subcontinent.

The project in question will be located in the Bhojpur and Sankhuwasabha districts of the country, and will now move towards the full-scale development of a 669-MW facility called the Lower Arun Hydropower project in the east of the landlocked nation.

Initial cost estimates are in the $1.3bn range; an amount given the green light by the IBN in mid-April at the 53^rd meeting of the agency charged in part with helping to bring power to outlying areas of the country.

Leading the construction of the build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) project will be the SJVN subsidiary, Arun-III Power Development Co. (SAPDC).

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