Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi have jointly started construction of Arun III Hydropower Project clicking a switch Friday night.
The two PMs hugged each other after clicking the switch at a program organized at Dwarika’s Hotel.
Satluj
Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) of India is contracted to develop the 900 MW project in Sankhuwasabha district. The contractor will have to complete the Rs 104 billion project within five years of financial closure as per the build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) agreement that requires transfer of the project to the Nepal government 30 years after completion of financial closure. Financial closure, however, has yet to be done.
Nepal will get 197 MW of free energy from the project once it comes into operation while the rest of the electricity will be exported to India.