Arun III Hydropower’s Tunnel Breakthrough

Arun III Hydropower’s Tunnel Breakthrough

June 4, 2024, 8:59 p.m.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" has said that the government is firmly heading for the development of the energy sector and it will create history.

Addressing the ceremony held on the occasion of the breakthrough of the Arun-3 Hydropower Project on Tuesday, PM Prachanda said the government in the 2024/25 budget made sufficient effort to attract private investment in the energy sector.

Sankhuwasabha Makalu-5 tunnel of Arun 3rd hydropower project located in Amrang has been 'break through'. In the tunnel break through program, Prime Minister Prachanda said that the development of the energy sector is a top priority of the government

He informed that Nepal will have an additional 900 MW of electricity in the national transmission line which will amount to 4500 MW and pursue exporting electricity to Bangladesh.

He said that the current government, which is working by determining the priority of making a leap in developing countries in 2026 and achieving sustainable development goals by 2030, has given infrastructure development as its first priority.

I have been getting information about this project directly and indirectly.

The project development agreement was signed on November 25, 2014 and it is currently under construction, Prime Minister Prachanda said, "I am happy that the physical progress of the project is 74.09 percent and 37.95 percent toward the transmission line."

He expressed his belief that after the construction of the project, it will make a significant contribution to the country's electricity business.

"I instruct the concerned parties to complete the remaining work of the project within the stipulated time by providing the necessary support and facilitation, including acquiring the necessary land for this project," he said.

Prime Minister Prachanda recalled that last month he broke through the Kathmandu-Naubise tunnel and the multi-purpose Marin diversion project and said that he is monitoring projects of national priority and taking information from the office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers through audio-visual.

He said that the problems seen in the construction of the project have been identified from the said office and the necessary facilitation is being done to solve them.

He said that in the future, he has made a plan to monitor such projects regularly and make a schedule to move forward.

I have been saying time and again, while managing physical development, progress can be made quickly in the field of human development as well.

I have also been appealing to them to queue up in the journey of development and prosperity through the image of Nepal entering the tunnel era," he said.

Prime Minister Prachanda said that the government has given high priority to the development of the energy sector in the budget of the next fiscal year, and the power capacity of the national system will be increased to 4,500 megawatts with the 900 megawatts of electricity produced by this project.

"From the next fiscal year, the budget includes provisions for the arrangement of electricity export to Bangladesh, legal arrangements for the participation of the private sector in the construction and distribution of electricity transmission lines, the construction of dams and power plants in reservoir projects through separate promoters to attract private sector investment," Prime Minister Prachanda said. .

If the commercial production does not start on the specified date or if the production is delayed for any reason, according to the estimated data, the Nepalese government will suffer a financial loss of Rs. 2000 million a day.

Similarly, Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet said that the project will add a new dimension to the development of the country's energy sector. He told the government's goal of producing 28,500 megawatts of electricity in the next 12 years. He said that the target is to produce from the project from the next financial year, and he said that it will help in the implementation of the long-term electricity trade agreement with India.

Naveen Srivastava, India's ambassador to Nepal, said that this project is important for the implementation of the agreement between Nepal and India for the trade of 10,000 megawatts of electricity in the next 10 years. He said that there are many possibilities for electricity generation in Arun river and emphasized that both countries should use these possibilities together. He informed that they are ready to cooperate with Nepal government for other projects in Arun river

Chief Managing Director of Sutlej Hydropower Corporation (SAPDC) Sushil Kumar Sharma mentioned that Prime Minister Prachanda has been supporting the project since the beginning and expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Prachanda and the Government of Nepal for that.

Saying that 75 percent of the project work has been completed, he requested Prime Minister Prachanda to assist in the acquisition of land for the repair and upgrading of the Koshi highway as well as the construction of the transmission line to complete the project on time. He emphasized that for this, a high-level coordination committee should be formed and the problem should be solved in collaboration with the Investment Board

The project aims to produce electricity from March 2025. The project will generate 900 MW of electricity from four turbines with a capacity of 225 MW. Electricity will be generated from the dam located in Makalu rural municipality wards number 3 and 5 of the project through an 11.8 km tunnel to the power plant in Chichila rural municipality-3 Pukuwa.

The PM said, "The government is committed to effectively implementing the programme of hydropower project, transmission line for the development of energy sector included in the budget".

PM Prachanda specifically appealed to the political parties, civil society, and the local community to help mediate the land acquisition process and construction of the transmission line of the Arun-3 Project.

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