Kathmandu. Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Biraj Bhakta Shrestha has said that the government wants to promote IPPAN as a partner organization rather than a concerned one.
During a meeting with a delegation led by Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal (IPPAN) President Ganesh Karki at Singha Durbar on Wednesday, Minister Shrestha said that the private sector, which has contributed more than the state’s contribution to Nepal’s energy sector, would be treated as a partner rather than a stakeholder agency. Stating that energy has been given a lot of importance in the priority of the newly formed government and the single leadership party of the government, he said that some good programmes would be implemented from the upcoming budget.
Minister Shrestha said that the government wants to carry out reforms in such a way that the system itself runs the people and institutions, not the individual, said that the research and development (R&D) policy would be implemented. “The statistics have proved how much electricity was generated when the government alone produced electricity in the past,” he said, adding, “Now it is not possible for a single buyer to work according to the wishes of the state and the private sector.” ’
Shrestha stressed on the need of collaboration between the government and private sector to carry out public awareness programmes as lack of public awareness was one of the reasons for obstruction of locals in the construction of transmission line along with hydropower projects. “If the energy infrastructure is not built on time, not only the industrialists but also our country will be worn,” he said, adding, “What kind of policies are required from the state to move ahead by building a deeper relationship with the public.”
Ganesh Karki, chairman of IPPAN, said that the government was expected to resolve all problems in energy sector by allocating works to be done within 1 month, three months, six months and a year as per the commitments of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and the 100-point action plan. Karki said that results can be given in 3 months if the policy problems are separated on one side and the procedural problems on the other.
Objecting to the fact that the institutions established to facilitate the private sector have started enjoying the trouble of the private sector, Chairman Karki said that the practice of enjoying by the Nepal Electricity Authority, Department of Electricity Development, Electricity Regulatory Commission and other institutions by imposing dual regulation and double fines should be put to an end immediately. “There are so many headlines that the project has not paid dividend, but it is not reported that the company has not been able to pay dividend by not constructing the transmission line or purchasing electricity or it is deliberately hidden,” he said, “If the contingency system is not removed, the company will not have the capacity to pay dividend and the entrepreneurs may end up on the road.” ’
Referring to the fact that the EIA of 2077 BS has not yet received permission to cut trees, but the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has refused to extend the RCOD deadline, Karki asked Minister Shrestha, “Was it the fault of the promoter or the state? If it is delayed due to the state, why not add RCOD? The private sector is terrified and frustrated by the fact that fines are being imposed at every step. ’
Karki also accused the NEA of bullying the NEA by saying that it would not buy electricity after the lights of some projects were switched on. Karki also drew the attention of Minister Shrestha that the locals were harassing the locals for not giving permission to the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) despite the provision of providing shares to the locals.
Similarly, the CDSC has not listed the promoter shares for the past 14 months, which has caused a lot of trouble to the investors of 22 companies, said Karki. Stating that the situation has surfaced that the construction of 20,000 megawatts projects has come up after the Supreme Court ordered to stop the construction of projects in the national park area, he stressed that the government should work to create environment conducive for the construction of projects even by reducing the area of the national park.
Deputy General Secretary of IPPAN Prakash Dulal said that the government does not have to wait for six months to extend the lease period of the line to 50 years, to find market for the generated power, to extend the RCOD deadline, to sign PPA and to forward the files of 55 projects that have been stalled for lack of permission for cutting trees. Dulla also said that the government should not wait for the deadline for renewing the license of the hydropower industry, creating an environment for the issuance of IPO and resolving the dispute of dual IGN.
Former president of IPPAN Shailendra Guragain said that policy-level and procedural problems should be resolved. He expressed the view that all the transmission lines could be constructed within 3 years if the responsibility was handed over to the private sector as the government could not construct more transmission lines due to lack of money.
