KATHMANDU, Nov 25: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Managing Director Kulman Ghising has said that within the current financial year, Nepal's hydropower production capacity will reach 3,000 megawatts.
Speaking on the occasion of National Tax Day on Wednesday, Ghising said that the hydropower generation capacity of Nepal will reach 3,000 megawatts within the current financial year as several hydropower projects will start generating electricity.
According to Ghising, in the next 5-6 years, Nepal’s hydropower generation capacity will be 15,000 megawatts. He said that when electricity generation reaches 15,000 megawatts, about five billion rupees revenue will be collected from the electricity authority.
Central region highest in hydropower royalties
He said that 50 billion rupees revenue should be paid to the government when hydropower production reaches 3,000 megawatts. He said that the authority pays 1.7 billion rupees annually to the government. The electricity authority pays about Rs 70 crore as revenue from a hydropower project.
Ghising said, “It seems that the promotion of hydropower will contribute a lot to Nepal in terms of taxes and royalties. After 2/3 years, it will become 5,000 megawatts. In this year itself, we have exported electricity worth about 11 billion rupees in five months. Earlier we used to buy electricity worth 11 billion rupees during this time, but now we sell. Therefore, energy is a very important subject for the prosperity of the country.”
