The government has shown keen interest in expediting the much-talked about 1,200 MW reservoir-based Budhigandaki Hydel Project under the company model by utilising domestic resources after 11 years of dilly-dallying. The national pride project has been in limbo, mainly because of the government's inconsistent decisions over whether to hand it over to a foreign company through direct negotiation or to build it by the state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). After the government recently decided to build it on the company model by mobilising domestic resources, NEA officials this week visited the project site in Gorkha and Dhading districts. For this, the government also constituted the Budhigandaki Hydroelectric Company last year. NEA intends to retain the majority share of the project with the remaining shares to be distributed to the general public and other investors, such as the Employees Provident Fund, Citizen Investment Trust, Rastriya Beema Sansthan, Rastriya Beema Company, Hydroelectricity Investment Development Company, Nepal Telecom and the welfare funds of the Nepali Army and Nepal Police. Earlier, a panel chaired by then vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission Swarnim Wagle had suggested building the project by creating a special purpose vehicle company under the NEA. The Wagle panel had suggested mobilising the inadequate resources through Visibility Gap Funding and Visibility Gap Lending at minimal concessional loans.

More than 90 per cent of the work related to land acquisition in the area has been completed with Rs 42 billion already distributed to the affected people. Out of the 8,117 households to be affected, a total of 3,560 households will face complete displacement. Based on the report prepared by the French Tractebel Engineering Company in 2015, the project was estimated to cost $2.59 billion. However, due to price escalation, it would increase around $2.77 billion with eight years of construction period. The proposed project will create a reservoir spreading over 63 sq km. The project is expected to generate 3.38 billion units of electricity annually.

The government has been raising money by levying a 5 per cent tax on the sale of petroleum products from the source under the Infrastructure Tax. NEA has demanded that the government directly transfer half of the tax collected into the account of the project. If this arrangement is made, the project will not face any problem in mobilising required resources. Once this reservoir-based project comes into operation in time, it will be a game changer as the country will be self-reliant in the energy sector. Financing the project will not be a big problem as the general people and other domestic institutional firms are ready to invest in it. The main problem that lies ahead for its timely execution is the lack of general understanding among the major political parties, who change their stances whenever they come to power. The previous governments led, one after another, by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Sher Bahadur Deuba and KP Oli had changed their stances over the development modality of the multi-billion dollar project. Were it not for their inconsistent positions every time they came to power, the game-changer project would have already been completed, freeing the country from the energy crisis.

Huge mango yield

Nepali mangoes have flooded the domestic market this year, a rare phenomenon, due to a bumper harvest of the fruit this year. Mango production has been growing from year to year, reaching nearly 500,000 tons last fiscal year. This year, the average yield has increased by two tons a hectare, from 10.67 tons to 12.61 tons, thus accounting for the huge mango output this year. Not only have Nepali mangoes dominated the Nepali market, their prices have also dipped considerably compared to the previous year, at a time when everything has become dearer.

Mango cultivation accounts for a third of all fruits grown in the country, and if Nepal can achieve near self-sufficiency in it, there is no reason why we cannot repeat the feat in other fruits, for which we are heavily dependent on imports from India and China. Because of the varied climatic conditions, different types of fruits can be grown in the country. However, it is only in recent years, that efforts are being made to commmercialise horticulture, with the private sector taking to growing vegetables and fruits such as apples, oranges, bananas and grapes. There is great potential for export if we can grade and package them properly for a long shelf life.

A version of this article appears in the print on July 11, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.