Washington, May 23: The World Bank has announced 75.6 million dollars of credit to Nepal to improve the power situation in the Himalayan kingdom. The credit provided under the 'Nepal Power Development Project' aims to meet the energy needs of a vast majority of Nepalis who have little or no access to electricity, the bank said.
"The project draws on the combined strengths of communities, the private sector and the public sector," Mudassar Imran, senior energy economist for the World Bank and task manager for the project said today.
"The project will also promote the development of Nepal's hydropower potential in a sustainable and environmentally sound manner, and encourage private participation to improve efficiency in the power sector," he said. "The private sector will lead the development of medium and small scale hydro projects. Investments in transmission and distribution will be implemented by the Nepal Electricity Authority. Village electrification programmes will be led by community groups with women and ethnic minorities as active participants and beneficiaries," Imran said.
The Nepal Power Development Project will be the bank's first major investment in the hydropower sector since the cancellation of the proposed Arun Three project amid controversial circumstances in 1995. "The power development project has been a long time in coming between the time when it was first promised as a substitute for the aborted Arun Three project in 1995 and board approval today," Kenichi Ohashi, the bank's country director for Nepal said. Bureau Report