Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ inaugurated a field office of the Budhigandaki Hydropower Project amid a programme here today. Budhigandaki Hydropower Project is a ‘national pride’ project.

The Prime Minister unveiled a copper plaque to formally inaugurate the office.

Prior to this, the Prime Minister took an aerial view of the areas in Gorkha and Dhading vulnerable to inundation due to the project construction.

He was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet, former Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai, federal parliamentarians from Dhading and Gorkha, chiefs and chief ministers of Gandaki and Bagmati provinces, the government chief secretary, the energy secretary and the managing director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

The government has already established the Budhigandaki Hydroelectricity Company with an authorised capital of Rs 60 billion to undertake the 1200-MW Project of national pride.

Similarly, the government has distributed compensation amounting to Rs 34.3 billion for land acquisition related to the Project. The distribution process is in its final phase of completion. Around 50,000 people in Dhading and Gorkha districts will be affected by the project.

The detailed project report for the Budhigandaki Project was prepared by France-based Tractebel Engineering in 2014. The proposed dam will be 263 meters high.

As the government said, the Project will be developed through the mobilization of internal resources.

The NEA has a larger chunk of share in the Project, according to Company Chief Jagat Shrestha.