Confirming the meeting, Anup Kumar Upadhayay, spokesperson of the Ministry of Energy, said, “The meeting is scheduled for September 17 and 18 for the loan negotiations.”
A loan amounting to the tune of US$90 million is to be sanctioned under the ADB´s “Access to energy and capacity-building program.” As per the initial understanding, the ADB is to bear almost US$65 million, while the rest is to be incurred by Nepal government. Besides the construction of the transmission lines in various corridors, the loan will be used in construction of substations, grid substations reinforcement strengthening project and distribution system reinforcement project among other projects to be initiated by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
The ADB has said that it is planning to finance and strengthen the transmission line from Butwal to Kohalpur and the loan is being processed. The remaining section is being studied for possible inclusion in a follow-up project, once all the social and environment safeguards are adequately addressed and met.
The general manager of the Transmission and Systems Operation at the NEA, Yugal Kishor Sah, said that the ADB is keen on developing the Butwal-Kohalpur sector in the first phase. “The negotiations will be held on the much-needed assistance to complete the Butwal-Kohalpur sector,” Sah said. The ADB has proposed to go for an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) as per its guidelines for the Kohalpur-Mahendranagar sector to be taken up in phase II of the project. The ADB has proposed the EIA as two national wildlife parks are located in the Kohalpur-Mahendranagar sector.
The ADB´s commitment for providing assistance to Nepal has come at a time when rumors are afloat that ADB is not willing to sanction loans in the two aforesaid transmission line projects.
Kapil Ghimire , the joint-secretary at the Ministry of Finance, said that although the ADB had invited Nepali representatives to its office in Manila, Philippines, the government decided to hold a video conferencing with them from Kathmandu itself “to save cost of the trip.” He informed that the meeting will be attended by the representatives of the ministries of Finance, Energy, Environment, Forests and Law along with NEA officials.
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