Kathmandu, Oct 29: India and Nepal will jointly construct a 600-megawatt hydro-electric power plant costing approximately one billion dollars in the Himalayan kingdom, officials here said today. Officials from Nepal's water resources ministry and their Indian counterparts have started preliminary discussions for constructing the Budhigandaki hydro power project at Budhi-Gandaki, about 100 kms north of the Indo-Nepal border.
At their three-day meeting here, officials will aim at reaching an understanding on preparing a detailed project report of the project, according to water resources ministry officials.
To get first hand information, the Indian delegation today conducted an on-the-spot inspection of the site.
The five-member Indian team is being led by Ministry of Water Resources Commissioner M L Goel while the seven-member Nepalese team is headed by the Director General of the Electricity Development Department, Lekh Man Singh Bhandari.
The Indian team also comprises the chief engineer of the Central Electricity Authority, S N Dhiman, director of the Central Waters Commission S C Gupta and chief engineer of the Water and Power Consultant Service India, N Kumar. During yesterday's parleys, Nepal proposed that India sign a Memorandum of Understanding as soon as possible.
"India has agreed to send the draft to the Nepalese Ministry of Finance before its signing in the next three to four weeks," the official said.
Bureau Report