Nepal’s largest Hydro Power Project- Arun-III Financial Closure signed

Feb 07, 2020

Kathmandu (Nepal), Feb 07 (ANI): India and Nepal inked financial closure of Arun-III, the largest hydropower project in the Himalayan nation. Built by the financial assistance from India, the 900 MW hydropower project is under construction at Sankhuwasabha District of Nepal. The Project Development Agreement (PDA) for construction of the dam was signed between SAPDC and Investment Board of Nepal in November 2014. The estimated cost of the project stands at USD 1.04 million. To be completed in 5 years, it will produce 4,018.87 million units of electricity annually. The project is expected to generate 3,000 jobs in the country. The total investment of the project is estimated to cross 1.6 billion dollars, including over 156 million dollars for the development of the transmission line. The Peaking Run-of-River Project, Arun-III has 3.65 hours of minimum peaking capacity, which was jointly inaugurated by Prime Ministers of India and Nepal in May 2018. A high head, run of the river scheme with storage capacity envisaged for installation of four generating units of 225 MW each gives the project a total installed capacity of 900 MW. It is being developed on a build-own-operate and transfer (BOOT) basis by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Arun-III Power Development Company (SAPDC), a joint venture of the Government of India and the Government of Himachal Pradesh.