The Government of Japan has agreed to extend a loan assistance up to fifteen billion, one hundred and thirty-seven million Japanese yen (¥15,137,000,000), equivalent to one hundred fifty-seven million three hundred and fifty-three thousand US dollars (US$157,353,000), or about thirteen billion six hundred and fifty-three million Nepalese Rupees (NRS13,653,000,000), to the Government of Nepal for the implementation of the TANAHU Hydropower Project in Japan’s Fiscal Year 2012. The loan carries a 0.01% interest rate per annum on the loan amount withdrawn and will be re-paid in 30 years, after the grace period of 10 years.

The Notes to this effect were signed and exchanged by His Excellency Kunio TAKAHASHI, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, and Mr. Shanta Raj Subedi, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Nepal, on behalf of their respective Governments.In the meantime, Masataka NAKAHARA, Director General from JICA Headquarter, Tokyo, and Madhu Kumar Marasini, Joint Secretary of the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division of the Ministry of Finance, also signed and exchanged a separate Loan Agreement for the implementation of the said project.

Under the Notes, the Government of Nepal will utilize the loan assistance to purchase the products and/or services required for the construction of TANAHU Hydropower Project located near Damauli, about 150km west of Kathmandu.

TANAHU Hydropower Project is a storage type hydropower project, with the total storage capacity of 295 millionM³, and an electricity generation capacity of 140mW even during dry season. The basic objective of this Project is to meet the growing energy demand in Nepal in general and to address the severe load shedding due to the production and demand gap during peak hours in particular. This will be achieved by harnessing water resources to generate renewable energy with minimal environmental and social impacts.

It is expected that TANAHU Hydropower Plantwill generate 585gwH electricity per annum contributing significantly to mitigatingsevere load-shedding. As a result, almost all consumers of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) connected to the National Power Grid will be directly or indirectly benefited from this Project. In addition, it is anticipatedthat this Project will help extensively to address the growing energy demand of the industries.

On the occasion, Ambassador TAKAHASHI has noted the past projects being implemented under the Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the energy sector. Ambassador TAKAHASHI said that, since 1976, Japan has been extending Japan’s ODA to Nepal in the energy sector in the form of Grant and Loan Assistance. A total of 15.653 billion Japanese Yen in Grants, and 39.265 billion Japanese Yen in Loans, have been extended so far to Nepal in this sector. (A separate sheet of paper on Japan’s Contribution to the Energy Sector in Nepal from JFY 1975 to date is attached herewith)

Expressing his happiness, Ambassador TAKAHASHI reiterated that Japan’s contribution to the energy generation sectors in Nepal is still considerably high,up to 236mW, which is still about 33% of the present total installed capacity of Nepal, a combination of NEA and Independent Power Producer(IPP), to date.