Kathmandu, May 9:

Minister of State for Water Resources Gyanendra Bahadur Karki today said that the cabinet will grant the licence to a foreign company for the construction of the Arun III project very soon.

“I hope the government will take a decision on the Arun III project very soon. It (the project) is going to make a new history of electricity generation in Nepal,” he said at a talk programme on electricity and education.

The project is not only about generating electricity and supply it to India, he said, adding that the project will bring hundreds of opportunities of development in the area.

“Nepal is going to be a country which will supply electricity not only to India but also to the entire SAARC region,” he claimed, conceding that Nepal has been able to generate only 600 MW of electricity in 100 years.

Tulsi Neupane, chairman of the Community Education Development Hydro-Electricity Pvt Ltd, said three campuses of Sankhuwasabha have been re-generating electricity from a local Khandwabri Small Hydro-Electricity Project, which was abandoned by the government after the Maoists destroyed it three years ago.

“We are very proud to relate education and electricity,” he said, adding, “The 250-KW power plant has recently started generating electricity.”

Speaking at the same programme, Minister for Education and Sports Pradip Nepal said development projects should be handed over to the community for property mobilisation of the national property.