Modi, Oli jointly lay foundation stone of 900-mw Arun III Hydroelectric power plant

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli today jointly laid the foundation stone of the 900-megawatt Arun III Hydroelectric Power Plant in Tumlingtar area in eastern Nepal through a remote system here.

The project is expected to bring in USD 1.5 billion foreign direct investment into Nepal and create jobs for thousands of people.

Investment Board Nepal (IBN) recently granted the licence to Satluj Jala Vodyut Nigam Power Development Company, a subsidiary of Indian government-owned Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd, to generate power from the Arun-III Hydropower Project, nearly 500-km from Kathmandu.

The permit was granted in line with the decision of the 30th meeting of IBN's board of directors chaired by Prime Minister Oli on April 28, according to an IBN official.

Arun-III is the largest capacity project in the history of hydroelectricity that is scheduled to be constructed within the next five years.

Nepal is currently facing shortage of power and the production of hydropower from the project will mainly serve its domestic demands.

The Nepal government will receive benefits worth Nepali Rupees 348 billion from the project as royalty, income tax, customs tariff and free energy in the concession period of 25 years. The project will also provide 21.9 per cent or 197 megawatts of the generated energy free of cost to Nepal.

Last month, the compound wall of the Arun-III plant's office in Tumlingtar area was damaged in the explosion, weeks before its inauguration.

India had asked Nepal to investigate the explosion that caused minor damaged to the office. However, no one was injured in the blast.

Following the incident, security was stepped up in the area.