September 15: State Minister for Energy of India RK Singh has said that another Indian company will undertake the construction of the 900-magawatt Upper Karnali Hydropower Project if GMR does not complete it.  He made such remark during the ministerial-level meeting between Nepal and India in Kathmandu last Thursday.

The minister was of the view that GMR should undertake the project at any cost and if that does not happen then another Indian company will be handed over the project, said a representative of Nepal Electricity Authority who had attended the meeting.

“The government of Nepal should facilitate to resolve the problems surfaced in land acquisition by GMR in Upper Karnali,” NEA official Prabal Adhikari quoted Singh as saying.

“If this problem is solved, then GMR will continue its work.”

According to Section 35 of the Electricity Act 2049, the government can hand over hydropower project to any other contractors without any competitive process. If any problem arises in this project, the government plans to use this provision to grant the project to another company.