India once again assures to finalize DPR of Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project

Nepal and India have agreed to finalize the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the much awaited Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project at the earliest.

The two sides reached this agreement during a meeting between Nepal’s Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, Deepak Khadka, and his Indian counterpart C.R. Patil held in New Delhi, India on Thursday. According to Khadka’s personal secretariat, India has expressed a positive stance toward expediting the construction works of the project.

Minister Khadka held discussions with his Indian counterpart during his visit to New Delhi to participate in the India Energy Week. The meeting was attended by Energy Secretary Suresh Acharya, senior energy expert Prabal Adhikari and Joint Secretary Sandip Kumar Dev from Nepal’s Ministry of Energy.

A press note issued by Minister Khadka’s personal secretariat stated that Minister Patil assured India's commitment to finalizing the DPR and proceeding with the project, which is in a state of dilly dallying for the past one decade.

The DPR of Pancheshwar was prepared by India's state-owned Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS) in 2016. Since then, the southern neighbor promised a number of times to speed up construction of the mega project, but failed to materialize on various pretexts.

During the last visit to India by then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, from May 31 to June 3, 2023, the two countries agreed to finalize the Pancheshwar's DPR in the next three months. However, it failed to materialize due to some technical issues.

The bi-national power plant to be developed in the Mahakali River bordering Nepal and India has the capacity of generating 6,480 megawatts of electricity. The proposed structure will have 12 units – each one generating 540 megawatts.

As per the preliminary report of the project, an estimated Rs 336 billion will have to be invested in the Pancheshwar High Dam and Rupaligad Re-regulating Dam project in the initial phase. Nepal will have to inject investment between Rs 126 billion and Rs 130 billion for a decade-long construction of the project (with Rs 12 to 13 billion annually).

According to the estimates, Nepal can earn Rs 34.5 billion from electricity generation annually. Being a multipurpose project, the country can also make additional earnings out of fish farming, carbon trading, irrigation, ecotourism, medicinal herbs, and fruit production.

Meanwhile, the two countries during Thursday’s meeting also agreed to release water into the already constructed link canal from Tanakpur to the Nepal-India border. The operational procedure for water release will soon be finalized in accordance with the Mahakali Treaty.