Kathmandu, May 9

Additional 94.8 megawatts of electricity generated from various hydroelectricity projects will be connected to the national grid within this fiscal.

According to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) — the state-owned power utility — hydroelectric projects with the capacity to produce 94.8 megawatts of electricity are in the last stage of construction and will be completed within the end of this fiscal year.

The country’s total installed capacity of electricity has just crossed 1,000 megawatts, whereas demand is 1,300 megawatts. Out of total installed capacity of 1,073 megawatts, NEA projects contribute 562 megawatts and 511 megawatts is contributed by independent power producers (IPPs). NEA is currently importing 450 MW of electricity from India to fulfil the demand in the country.

With the addition of 94 megawatts of power, the country’s total installed capacity will rise to 1,167 megawatts, but it will still fall short of the demand.

Of the seven projects nearing completion, 25-megawatt Kabeli B1, 21.6-megawatt Lower Hewa Khola and 20-megawatt Lower Modi are the three major projects.

Also, 100 megawatts of electricity has already been connected to the national grid till date this fiscal, with contribution of 14 projects constructed by NEA and IPPs. These included NEA’s key project — the 30MW Chamelia. Likewise, 13.6MW Thapa Khola and 13MW Madkyu Khola were the major projects that were completed by the private sector.

Looking ahead, a total of 661 megawatts of electricity is expected to be connected to the national grid in fiscal 2018-19. The government and NEA will frequently monitor, coordinate and provide necessary support to the projects to ensure they are completed on time, according to officials.

Among others, 456-megawatt Upper Tamakoshi hydel project, one of the national pride projects, is scheduled to be connected to national grid next fiscal. Similarly, 40MW Khanu Khola 1; 27MW Dordi Khola; 25MW Upper Dordi A; 23.5MW Solu Khola; 22.2 MW Upper Chaku A; 22MW Bagmati Khola Small are the other major projects, out of the total 12 projects, to be connected to the national grid next fiscal.

“We are focused on expediting construction of key NEA projects. These include 456MW Upper Tamakoshi, 14.8MW Upper Sanjen, 102MW Middle Bhotekoshi, 111MW Rasuwagadhi and 42.5MW Sanjen, which are to be completed by 2020,” said Prabal Adhikari, spokesperson for NEA. “Along with these hydropower projects, the government has completed the construction of 132 kV Balanch-Attaria transmission line, which is providing the backbone for the entire Province 7.”

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Kathmandu, May 9

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN) — accounting sector regulatory body — in association with the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) is organising the ‘International Conference on Public Sector Financial Management’ on Saturday.

Organising a press meet in the Capital today, ICAN officials said that the international conference on public sector financial management aims to discuss about the accountability and transparency of the public sector organisations and companies.

The conference being organised with a theme of ‘Public Sector Financial Management: Enhanced Accountability and Transparency’ will bring together 60 international delegates from 18 member countries, out of 23 member nations of CAPA along with over 200 national accounting professionals to discuss on ways to strengthen transparency, accountability and audit function in the public sector.

Prakash Jung Thapa, president of ICAN, said that the international conference is going to be held in Nepal at a time when the issue of public sector financial management (PSFM) has been in the spotlight as the country transitions to the new federal system. “The technical sessions going to be held during the conference has been designed in a way that can benefit Nepal through the knowledge, expertise and skills of national and international experts to strengthen the preparedness of the stakeholders towards standardisations and improvisations of public sector finance management,” he said.

During the technical sessions of the conference, there will be paper presentations and discussions on issues like integrated financial management system, public financial management governance and practices and country experiences, PSFM challenges and way forward in the federal structure and strengthening audit function in the public sector.

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Kathmandu, May 9

The government is preparing to merge the ill-fated National Trading Ltd (NTL) with Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) to form an autonomous National Supply Company (NSC).

A highly-placed source at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS) informed The Himalayan Times that an independent committee of experts is currently studying the prospects of merging these two entities and operation modality of the yet-to-be-formed supply company.

“We are preparing to recommend the government to merge these two entities through the upcoming budget speech for the 2018-19 fiscal year,” said the MoICS source, adding that the two government firms will start joint operation after this plan gets a nod from the government.

Citing that NTL had been persistently incurring losses and adding financial burden on the government, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) had recommended the then Ministry of Supplies (MoS) to shut down NTL in January and had given voluntary retirement to 264 NTL staffs.

The government had then formed a committee to hold due diligence audit of NTL to identify actual property of NTL. As per the committee’s preliminary study, NTL has property worth almost Rs 25 billion across the country.

“After shutting down NTL, property of the company worth billions of rupees has remained unused. We are thinking of ways to utilise them and one of the options is to merge NTL with NFC,” informed Mukunda Poudyal, joint-secretary at MoICS.

Sources informed that the National Supply Company will look after issues related to supply of essential goods in the domestic market. Such goods include rice and other food grains, sugar and different machinery equipment.

“Both NTL and NFC have warehouses across the country. If they are merged, it would be easier for the government to store ample essential goods for emergency purposes,” said Poudyal, adding that formation of an autonomous government-owned supply company is necessary also to ensure smooth supply of essential goods across the country, especially in remote areas.

In the long run, the National Supply Company could also enter into fuel supply business and diversify Nepal’s fuel trade, as per MoICS officials.

Earlier, the government had also discussed other possibilities for NTL, including merging it with Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), allowing NTL to start fuel trade with China, developing five-star hotels on its property or developing international standard exhibition halls on the premises of NTL.

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Kathmandu, May 9

In the backdrop of complaints registered at Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) citing that various firms have been delivering internet services without acquiring licences, the telecommunication sector regulator today published a notice warning against such illegal activities.

Moreover, NTA has started investigating the issue and has said that providing any sort of telecommunication services without acquiring licence from NTA is an offence.

“We have already deployed special investigation teams to cross-check if complaints are true. In case we find any firm catering telecommunication services, including internet service, without acquiring NTA’s permission, the firm will be subject to legal action,” said Min Prasad Aryal, spokesperson for NTA.

As per the Telecommunications Act, 1997, operation of telecommunication services is strictly prohibited without obtaining the licence to do so.

However, act has not talked about the type of action that could be taken against those operating telecommunication services without acquiring licences.

As per Aryal, NTA management will decide on the action that could be taken against such offences if they really exist.

Aryal said that delivering telecommunication services without acquiring licence will not only affect government’s revenue, but will directly impact the competitive growth of the telecommunication industry in the country.

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