Five international companies have submitted proposals for commissioning the Dhading-based Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project with installed capacity of 600-MW.

Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had formed a committee headed by its board member Lekhman Singh Bhandary a month ago to assess the financial and technical capability of the five proposing companies. The committee is preparing financial and technical indicators to analyse these proposals.

“We are preparing criteria to select a company for the project,” said Bhandary.

The NEA’s next board meeting will endorse the criteria set by the committee. Bhandary said that 15 days after the endorsement of the criteria, the company that offers the project’s maximum shares to the NEA will be awarded the project.

The government had included Budhi Gandaki along with Upper Karnali (300 MW) and Arun III (402 MW) hydropower projects for international bidding three years ago. Two Chinese companies had submitted proposals to commission the project then.

“However, the Chinese companies failed to meet the criteria set by the former Finance Secretary Bhanu Prasad Acharya-led committee to commission the project,” said Bhandary. Offer of maximum shares to the NEA will be a major criterion for the selection of the company, added Bhandary.  Although internationally acclaimed company Electricity De France (EDF) had proposed public-private partnership (PPP) model for the project two years ago, the government took no decision then. Four other Indian companies had also submitted proposals for the project.

The 1983 pre-feasibility study estimated that this reservoir-type project could be commissioned at a cost of US $ 800 million.

The Kathmandu Post