The power summit in 2016 reiterated the government declaration of generating 10,000 MW in 10 years.

We dream of becoming a prosperous nation selling electricity to different South-Asian nations, especially India. Amid all these analysis, do we really realize the true importance of energy in the present context?

For us all, hydro-electricity is a means of easy sustenance and an exportable product, if we can. Are we able to identify the true importance of this product? In economics, energy is the driving force for economic growth.

It is gradually becoming a scarce component of all manufacturing industries. Carbon emission from the fossil fuel based industries is creating lots of criticisms all around the globe.

Even the first world nations are trying hard to focus on solar and other renewable energy sources. Hydro-electricity in these circumstance is a valued item that should be traded with great care.

Government policies should interpret hydro-electricity with greater clarity and intent. The objective of selling energy to other nations is like a policy of selling valuable medicinal herbs to other nations.

Ironically, after some processing, the same herbs will be imported with twice the prices to the needy Nepalese. Either we should avoid talking about industrialization or the government should change its policy of interpreting hydro-electricity.

The technology with which we generate hydro-electricity creates minimal impact on the environment. Adding to this, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) ensures minimal impact on the local surroundings due to the construction of hydro-power projects.

Selling this clean energy to other nations implies a notion of your candle lighting the neighbors’ house.

Talking about manufacturing, we basically focus on four major aspects: Research and Development; capital; labour and raw materials. If we want to deliver a commodity in a competitive price, we should garner comparative advantage in at least one among these four parameters.

We are well aware of the fact that we lag behind the First World when it comes to R&D and capital formation. The only parameter we can compete with is the raw materials: specifically, energy and labour.

Hydro-electricity is a cheap source of clean energy in the long run though initial cost of production is high, per unit cost of energy generation will be considerably low in the long run.