New Delhi, January 2:

India has said that Nepal is yet to provide the detailed project report (DPR) of the Naumurey irrigation project slated to come up in western Nepal.

The project to be built by India at its cost at the behest of Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has been delayed because of non-availability of the DPR, an official of the Indian Foreign Ministry said today.

India’s Ministry of Water Resources today issued a press statement saying that the discussion for the project and the decision to provide 100 per cent Indian financial aid for it were completed in 2006. “Since then, we are still waiting for the Nepal government to provide us a DPR on the kind of project it wants,” said the foreign ministry official. Under the financial and technical assistance head, India’s foreign ministry has set aside Rs 3 crore for the Naumurey project in the financial year 2007-08. The Indian foreign ministry said political turmoil in Nepal had put the project on the backburner.

The project envisaged over Rapti River in western would be capable of generating 240 megawatts of electricity. The project site is in Pyuthan district of Nepal.

According to a 1990 estimate, the project expected to cost $420 million will have a 200-metre high dam.

India’s Water Resources Ministry has made some technical and financial changes in its plans for the Saptakoshi hydel project. In the September 3 meeting of its public investment board, the ministry said it would draw up a new plan for the project and also reschedule its time frame. The project will cost Rs 70.55 crore and the site inspection and DPR of the project will be ready by September 30 next year.