Power Summit 2006 kicks off

September 7, 2006
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A two-day long “Power Summit 2006” kicked off in Kathmandu Thursday with a view to facilitate the development of power sector in Nepal and India.

Inaugurating the summit jointly organised Nepal Independent Power Producers’ Association (IPPAN) and Power Trading Company of India, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister KP Sharma Oli said the collaboration of the government and the private sector is very important for the development of the hydropower sector in Nepal.

Saying that the interest of Indian entrepreneurs for investment in hydropower sector in Nepal in recent times has been an encouraging development, Oli said the Nepal government would take timely decision in this regard.

Speaking at the summit, Finance Minister Dr Ram Saran Mahat said that for development of Nepal’s power sector proper policies, political commitment and sufficient investment were necessary.

Minister of State for Water Resources Gyanendra Karki said the government was ready to make policy changes to suit the need to utilise the vast water resources of the country for power generation. Private sector’s participation is very important for meeting the need of electricity in the country, he added.

Addressing the summit, Indian ambassador to Nepal Shiv Shankar Mukherjee said that the absence of adequate cross-border infrastructure in the two countries has constrained the development of power trading between the two countries.

He said, “We understand that Government of Nepal intends to utilise a considerable part of the concessional line of credit of USD 100 million extended by Government of India for augmenting generating capacity in Nepal, expanding rural electrification and developing high voltage transmission interconnection to India. I can assure you that we would take steps to simultaneously develop the connection on our territory. I believe we can have at least two transmission highways in two-three years.”

“In the face of looming power shortage in Nepal, we will consider positively Nepal’s request for supply of electricity on commercial terms during the coming winter, although, as you are aware, India has its own power shortage,” he said, adding, “In fact, we have been in regular touch with PTC India to explore the possibility of arranging supplies on a priority basis. I understand that transmission bottlenecks have to be overcome. We hope to be able to address that problem in the coming months.”

Mukherjee said that Indian side would also seek to schedule the meeting of the Power Exchange Committee as soon as they receive the request and dates from Government of Nepal.

About 150 private sector entrepreneurs including independent electricity producers from Nepal and India, contractors and environmentalists are participating in the summit.

According to IPPAN, the summit will primarily focus on cooperation between Nepal and India basides discussing the regulatory environment and various project development issues impacting the growth of hydropower sector.

The participants include some leading names from the power sector like Jaypee Group, GMR, IL&FS, ICICI Securities, POWERGRID, LANCO Group, Teesta Urja, Alstom Projects, IFFCO-Tokio General Insurance, SBI Capital Markets from India and Butwal Power Company, SN Power Invest, Standard Chartered Bank, Everest Bank from Nepal and other leading power developers and financial institutions from Nepal.