Kathmandu, December 1:

Delay on the part of Snowy Mountain Engineering Corporation (SMEC) has affected the 1.2 billion-dollar West Seti Hydroelectricity Project, an expert said today.

The chairman of Water and Energy Federation (WAFED), Ramchandra Chataut, said SMEC, the promoter of the West Seti Hydropower Company (WSHC), is to blame for the delay of the construction works of the 750 MW hydroelectricity project.

The Nepal government had granted approval in 1994 to the Australian company SMEC to develop the project.

The Managing Director of WSHC, Bill Bultitude had some time earlier announced that the project would begin by November this year.

“The government okayed the project despite protests, but the promoters are not here to implement the project. This proves that the promoters are only claiming rights over Nepal’s river but are not prepared to generate electricity,” he said, while talking with The Himalayan Times.

There are plans to sell the power generated by the project to India via transmission lines and generate revenue enough to invest for development of the far-western region.

SMEC has already signed Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with India’s Power Trading Corporation (PTC) at the rate of US cent 4.95 per unit.

“I believe that former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba okayed the project only to warm up his political atmosphere because now the promoter has virtually disappeared from the scene,” he said. He also raised doubts over the financial status of the project.

Anup Upadhyaya, the spokesperson to Ministry of Water Resources, said that the government has not stopped the promoters from starting construction works.

“There could be some problems related with rehabilitation of the people affected by the

project and updating of the environment impact assessment report.

But these would be solved within some days,” he said.

The Nepal’s representative for SMEC could not be reached for comments despite repeated

attempts.