Kathmandu, February 29:

An umbrella organisation of Nepali private sector, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) today held an interaction on present power crisis and gave suggestions to the government.

“The present power shortage has hit the industries hard,” Chandi Raj Dhakal, president of the FNCCI, said, adding that there has been more than 60 per cent reduction in the production due to regular load shedding. He said that private sector is ready to invest in the hydro projects, if the government gives opportunity.

Dwarika Nath Dhungel, senior researcher at the Institute For Integrated Development Studies (IIDS) and Santa Bahadur Pun, jointly presented a paper on ‘Current situation of the power shortage’. They suggested the government to speed up the construction of ongoing hydropower projects and urged the private sector for generation, transmission and interconnection of the electricity.

“Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) must be developed as an autonomous body with the representation of professionals,” they suggested. Rohini Thapaliya, coordinator of Commodity Association Council (CAC), on the occasion, said that the power supply is 23.5 per cent less than the present demand. He also suggested the government to declare power crisis as a national crisis and give it more priority.