Energy ministers’ new commitment.

The newly elected deputy prime minister and energy minister Mr. Top Bahadur Rayamajhi has recently expressed his verbal commitment to provide equal treatment between domestic (private), NEA's projects and foreign funded projects. Let's find out what additional benefits NEA and foreign funded projects are getting at the moment.

1) Sanjen Jalavidyut Company Limited, a subsidiary company of Chilime Hydropower Company Limited (NEA owned), is entitled to get nine escalations even with the new PPA rates while others are getting only five. From tenth year of operation and onwards, its PPA rates will be NRs. 6.45 and NRs. 11.29 per kWh during wet and dry seasons respectively. Others will have NRs. 5.52 and NRs. 9.66 per kWh during wet and dry seasons respectively from the sixth year of operation and onwards. Click here for the full comparison. 

2) NEA pays royalty for Khimiti hydropower project, a Norwegian funded project. No other hydropower company except Khimti has got this facility. Click here.

3) Khimti (Norwegian) and Bhotekoshi (previously owned by an American company) received as high as NRs. 11 and NRs. 13 per kWh respectively during dry seasons in the fiscal year 2013/14. Nepali companies are no way near as of now. Click here.

4) GMR (developer of Upper Karnali) is entitled to get an exclusive benefit of 50 percent discount on custom for construction materials such as cement and steel. Click here for the detail.

5) Similarly, the same company GMR is entitled to claim compensation from government of Nepal in case of national strike. No Nepali developers get this benefit.

6) For projects above 500 MW, Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) acts as the 'one window stop'. Projects below this capacity have to go through various ministries and line agencies for approval. Click here for the detail.

7) The previous government was preparing to provide housing facility for foreign investors investing more than US 1 million for the tenor of project operation (I am not sure whether it is implemented or not). Such facility was supposed to be borne by Government of Nepal. Click here for the detail.

I seriously doubt his (Top Bahadur Rayamajhi) understanding about the preferential treatments. Was he actually aware of these benefits when he made the bold statement? Is he going to keep up with the promises?

I would like to quote the exact wordings of ex. energy minister Mrs. Radha Gyawali during an interaction program few months back "I knew nothing about hydropower when I took the post for the first time. Now I have began to understand the barriers slowly. But it looks like my tenure is coming to an end." Her statement explains what sort of people is appointed in the apex level.