New directive for hydropower licensing

Government of Nepal is preparing a new directive for hydropower licensing related to the projects that are in government’s basket. There are 210 hydropower projects with a total capacity of 10,125 MW, according to Department of Electricity Development (DoED). These projects are actually the cancelled hydropower projects. They were previously developed by government, foreign investors and local developers. One of the main reasons for the cancellation was the failure to meet the deadlines.

Central Banks’ new directive and its impact on hydropower financing.

Nepal Rastra Bank NRB (Central Bank of Nepal) has increased the capital requirement by four times for the commercial banks (NPR 8 billion from NPR 2 billion). The decision to increase the paid up capital within two years is not only applicable for commercial banks but also for development banks and finance institutions.

Lack of forex risk protection could dissuade hydro investors

Foreign investors, who pour money into country’s hydroelectric sector without assurance of foreign exchange (forex) risk protection, stand to incur losses to the tune of 26 per cent of project’s capital cost, says a latest report prepared by Deloitte, one of big four consulting firms in world.