Investment in hydro skyrocketed, with 19 companies getting approval in seven months

 Kathmandu. 

Investment in hydropower has skyrocketed recently. In the first seven months of the current Fiscal Year 2077/78, over one and a half dozen hydropower companies have received approval from the Department of Industry. 

According to the statistics of the department, 19 hydropower companies have received approval from the department at different times since last July. Of them, six companies have received approval from the department within an interval of two weeks, said Bhakta Raj Joshi, director of the department.

"It simply came to our notice then. There is a wave of hydro power in the department now. 'Director Joshi said,' In the first seven months of the current fiscal year, only 19 hydro projects have received approval from the department. Six of those companies have received approval from the department within the last 20 days."

According to Joshi, two hydro power companies have received approval from the department in the name of Kalika Construction Pvt. Similarly, Kaveli Hydropower Company, Jhapa Energy Limited and Balefi Energy Pvt. Ltd. have also received approval from the department to generate electricity at the same time.

The company, registered in the name of Kalika Construction, has received approval to operate two power plants of 8.3 MW and 9.82 MW with Ajirkot and Barpak Sulikot in Gorkha district as the main power plants.

The company, which has been approved as a separate production center, has a total paid-up capital of Rs 1.65 billion for 8.3 MW and the company has stated that the total cost for 9.82 MW will be Rs 1.92 billion. 

Similarly, the total paid up capital of Kaveli Hydropower, which has received permission from the department to generate 21.93 MW of electricity, is Rs 4.27 billion. The production center of the company is located in Ward No. 5 and 6 of Shrijanga Gaupalika of Taplejung.

Meanwhile, Zapa Energy Pvt. The company has received approval to generate 10 MW in Jhapa Shivasatakshi Municipality-4 with a total paid-up capital of Rs. 815,069,534. Similarly, Balefi Energy Pvt. Ltd. Sindhupalchok for 40 MW 5 billion 96 crore 17 lakh 78 thousand 6 hundred 64 and Remit Hydro Ltd. Taplejung 77.5 MW with a total paid up capital of 17 billion 622 million 40 thousand 61 thousand 5 hundred 86 rupees. The product has been approved.

Relatively the same as last year and the current year

According to the statistics of the Department of Industry, the registration demand of hydropower companies is almost the same in the last fiscal year 2076/77 and 077/78. Looking at the statistics of the last fiscal year and 7-8 months of the current fiscal year, similar hydro companies have been approved for registration with the department.

According to the statistics of the department, 18 companies were registered last year while 19 companies have been registered this year. However, this is only a 7-month figure. Looking at the entire fiscal year, a maximum of 36 hydro companies have received approval from the department last year. At the same time, the number of hydropower companies seeking approval from the department for power generation has reached 440 so far.

No foreign investment

According to the Department of Industry, foreign investment in the industrial sector has declined recently. In the last 2-3 months, few approvals have been sought from the department for operating industries with foreign investment. According to Bhakta Raj Joshi, director of the industry department, such number is almost zero.

"At present, foreign investment in the industrial sector is almost nil. No foreign investor has so far applied to the department for approval. This is especially the case when Chinese investors are on leave,” said Joshi.

However, such a situation has arisen when the tea returned home due to Kovid-19 did not return to Nepal. Joshi also said that the situation was such that the Chinese would be on leave till the end of January, February and March. Currently, there is a majority of tea investors in the Nepali industrial sector.