Bangladesh is ready to invest in the 683 MW Sunkoshi III Reservoir Hydropower Project identified on the border of Kaverapalanchok and Ramchap districts.

A team led by the Secretary of the Ministry of Electricity, Energy and Mineral Resources of Bangladesh Mohammad Habibur Rahman and a joint team of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation of Nepal, the Department of Electricity Development and the Nepal Electricity Authority visited the proposed construction site and reservoir area of ??the project on Monday.

After the observation visit, Secretary Rahman said in a program held at Lubhughat of Khandadevi Village of Ramechhap that Bangladesh is willing and ready to proceed with the construction of Sunkoshi III hydropower projects in cooperation with Nepal. The estimated cost of the project is 1 billion 458 million US dollars.

“Bangladesh is ready to advance Sunkoshi as a pilot project with the investment of two countries, Bangladesh is honest and serious about investing in the project,” he said. “Not only Sunkoshi III, we are also willing to invest in another project with 1720 MW Khimti Shivalaya Reservoir identified in Dolakha and Ramechhap districts, in addition to this, the private sector of Bangladesh can also invest in projects in collaboration with the private sector of Nepal.”

He said that a concrete decision will be taken after a detailed discussion on the Sunkoshi project in the meeting of the secretary-level joint directorate committee and joint secretary-level joint working group formed for mutual cooperation in the energy sector. The meeting of the joint working group will be held on Wednesday and the meeting of the board of directors will be held on Thursday in Kathmandu.

In the third meeting of the joint working group and directorate committee held on 10 Aug 2018, Nepal proposed 5 hydropower projects to Bangladesh for cooperation in the hydropower sector. In the first phase of the meeting, it was agreed to conduct a joint on-site visit of the project to advance Sunkoshi III.

In the program, Ramechhap federal parliamentarian Shyam Shrestha, Sunapati rural municipality chairman Talkakancha Tamang, leaders of local political parties and others said that the construction should be done as a joint project of the two countries so that the face of the affected area would change, and the work should be done in such a way that the construction time should not be increased and for this, they are ready to provide the necessary support and cooperation locally. Committed.

Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Madhu Prasad Madhu Prasad Bhetwal said that the meeting of the mechanism formed for cooperation in the energy sector will finalize the issue of electricity trade with Bangladesh and investment in Sunkoshi III project.

Noting that Sunkoshi project will be built with the investment of Nepal and Bangladesh, Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority Kulman Ghising emphasized that such projects should be built in cooperation between the two countries.

Director General of Department of Electricity Department Sandiv Dev and Deputy Director General Sanjay Dhungel informed about the study of the project so far, features, affected areas, etc. The department has completed the feasibility study of the project. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the project is in the process of approval.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) identified the project in 1985 during the Koshi River Water Resources Development Study. The study conducted by JICA was updated in 2014.

The river will be blocked by construction of a 180-meter high dam at Lubhughat, which is about one kilometer from Nepalthok on the BP Highway, on the border between Khandadevi in ??Ramechhap and Temal Village in Kavre. The reservoir of the project extends up to 45 km. According to which, the reservoir will be extended towards the Sunkosi river at Sindhupalchok above Balefi Bazar and towards the Indravati river up to Sipaghat.

According to the EIA report, 45 wards of 13 local levels of Sindhuli, Kavre, Ramechhap and Sindhupalchok will be affected by the project. 3 thousand 237 hectares of land will be in submerged from the project. For this, 3,300 hectares of private land will have to be acquired, while 655 hectares of forest land will be required. It is seen that 11,700 people will be displaced by the project.

Out of the 2.35 billion 62 million units of electricity produced annually, 62.23 million units will be produced during winter.