Kathmandu. It has also suggested cancelling the permits of 38 hydropower projects with a capacity of 1,388 MW which have remained in zero progress for a long time by signing the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). A high-level committee formed by the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation to review the current status of the licenses issued by the Department of Electricity Development as per the government’s 100-point Government Reform Action Plan 74 (b) has suggested to identify such projects and cancel the licenses.

The committee has prioritized 15 projects with a capacity of 220 MW with overall progress above 50 percent during the five years of obtaining the production license. 

The committee has also listed 131 projects with a capacity of 5,642 MW that have achieved close to 50 per cent progress in the last five years.

A total of 38 projects with a capacity of 1,124 MW have been included in the list of facilitators to complete the projects at the earliest.However, 75 projects with a capacity of 4,121 MW have been listed as problematic projects in the same period. 

The budget statement for the fiscal year of the fiscal year 2083/84 mentions that the license of the project which has PPA but has not started the construction will be canceled. This paves the way for taking action against the projects that do not work for a long time after taking permission. 

According to the report of the study committee, the Department of Electricity Development has also recommended scrapping 11 projects with a capacity of 169 MW that had taken production license before 2076 BS but have not made any progress so far. 

The committee has recommended to initiate the scrapping process as per Section 8 of the Electricity Act, 2049 BS as the project has not complied with the conditions of obtaining the generation license and has not worked as per Rule 21 of the Electricity Regulations, 2050.