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The West Seti Hydropower Project, long regarded as a dream project for residents of Sudurpashchim Province, has remained stuck in studies for 44 years, with construction still uncertain.

Dr Tara Joshi, a member of the House of Representatives (HoR) from Dadeldhura, said the project has spent more than four decades moving from one study to another without entering the construction phase.

“I raised the West Seti project when I first spoke in the House of Representatives,” Joshi said. “Four decades have passed, and it is still stuck in studies. Even now, there is no certainty that the project will be built.”

He said an Indian company is currently conducting studies, meaning construction remains far from certain. Had the project been built when it was first proposed, its cost would have been significantly lower, he said, adding that prolonged delays have continued to increase the estimated cost.

On August 21, 2022, the government granted India’s NHPC Limited an exploration licence to conduct a survey of the West Seti project.

An agreement was subsequently signed between the Investment Board of Nepal and NHPC. Manoj Regmi, undersecretary and information officer at the Investment Board, said the Indian company is conducting studies in different phases and has already received technical clearance.

According to Regmi, the survey licence is valid until October 2026. A meeting of the Investment Board on August 22, 2025, formed a Project Development Agreement (PDA) drafting committee under the coordination of the board’s chief executive officer.

A history of studies and stalled agreements

The history of West Seti dates back to 1979, when a French company conducted a study and proposed generating electricity from the Seti River. Although the company did not receive permission to construct the project, it completed the study.

In 1990, the then Ministry of Water Resources granted an exploration licence to Australia’s SMEC.

The government and SMEC signed an agreement in 1997 to develop the West Seti project. SMEC planned to sell the electricity generated by the project to India and hand it over to the Nepal government in operating condition after 30 years of generation. The company also deployed employees in project-affected areas of Doti, Dadeldhura, Bajhang and Bajura.

Local residents initially welcomed SMEC’s plans, hoping the long-awaited project would bring development and economic opportunities. Their optimism, however, did not last.

Despite renewing its licence 10 times, SMEC failed to begin construction. The government terminated its agreement with the company in 2011.

On February 29, 2012, the government signed an agreement with Chinese hydropower developer China Three Gorges Corporation to develop the project.

The agreement between the then Ministry of Energy and Three Gorges set a target of starting construction in August 2014 and completing the project by the second week of January 2020. However, Three Gorges also failed to make significant progress, and the agreement was terminated in 2018.

Project-affected communities left in limbo

The prolonged uncertainty over West Seti has also taken a toll on development in parts of Bajhang, Dadeldhura, Bajura and Doti. Locals say development plans have been held back for decades because they were repeatedly told that settlements would eventually have to be relocated for the project.

Around 3,000 households are estimated to be affected by the proposed project.

SMEC had conducted a household survey in the affected areas and even promised to provide land in the Tarai to families that would be displaced.

Political parties have repeatedly featured West Seti in their election manifestos, but locals say they have gradually lost hope that the project will ever be built.

Investment in basic infrastructure - including roads, drinking water systems, embankments and schools - has also remained limited in many areas because of expectations that the project would eventually be implemented.

“West Seti is discussed and agreements are signed, but it never gets built. This has caused serious hardship for people in the affected areas of the four districts,” said Yadav Joshi, an activist campaigning for the project. “West Seti was not built, and development did not happen either.”

He said residents had been denied important development projects, including hospitals, schools, roads and drinking water infrastructure, because authorities expected the area to be affected by the hydropower project.

Young people who grew up hearing about West Seti have now grown old, while the discussion surrounding the project remains largely unchanged.

“People in the affected areas are frustrated because for four decades they have heard about West Seti, yet neither the project nor development has materialised,” he said.

The periodic arrival of government officials and other visitors to the affected areas briefly renews local hopes, but also deepens disappointment when those visits fail to lead to tangible progress.

Geopolitical interests

Experts say geopolitical interests have also contributed to keeping the West Seti project in limbo for four decades, despite its significance not only to Sudurpashchim but to Nepal as a whole.

According to them, agreements concerning the project - and their repeated failure to translate into construction - have been shaped not only by decisions within the Nepal government but also by geopolitical considerations.

Experts say major infrastructure projects in Nepal often attract competing geopolitical interests. The absence of a guaranteed international market for electricity generated by West Seti has also contributed to the project’s prolonged uncertainty.

After more than four decades of studies, agreements and abandoned plans, West Seti remains a symbol of Nepal’s difficulty in turning major hydropower ambitions into completed projects.