Welcome move

The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Limited (UTKHPL) has sought expression of interest (EOI) from national/international firms or team of individuals for its management team. The government had already tried to get a favorable person at the helm of the company by appointing former managing director of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Arjun Karki as its executive chairman. But the decision, rightly, has been scrapped since then and the wheels have thankfully been set in motion to hire a competent team through global competition. The decision to go international may have been forced upon the company by the Employees´ Provident Fund, which set pre-condition of a competent management team comprising national/international firms or individuals appointed through global competition in the loan agreement. But publishing the notice in a reputed magazine like The Economist has ensured that it would be noticed by the best of the professionals from across the globe. It also shows that the company indeed is serious about hiring a competent management team for completion of the project within the stipulated time and budget.



Completing the 456 MW project, which will be the largest hydropower project when it comes into operation, in time will be of utmost importance considering the scourge of power cuts that the country is currently suffering and that by all accounts is expected to worsen in the next few years. The daily peaking run-of-the-river project scheduled to be completed by 2015 will generate 456 MW of electricity for four hours a day even during the dry season and the NEA, which has already signed the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the company, will be better served receiving 456 MW in its national grid during the peak evening hours. The management team comprising a chief executive officer (CEO), a chief technical officer (CTO) and a chief finance and administration officer (CFAO) will therefore have to ensure timely completion of the project.



The bidding process may not necessarily result in hiring of an international team if Nepali individuals or firms come up with the best proposal. But getting a competent international team wouldn’t be bad for the project. We may have had a mixed result in our experience of international management with the Nepal Bank Limited and Rastriya Banijya Bank in the past. But an international team would be ideally suited to overcome various political and local obstacles that the project may encounter during the construction. Even if the company ends up getting a Nepali team, we hope the team having been appointed on merit will not have the hindrance of having to appease the power centers and would complete the project on time and within the stipulated budget.

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