President Bidhya Devi Bahandari called on both local and foreign investors for active involvement in harnessing the huge hydropower potential in the country. 

Addressing the inaugural session of second edition of the Nepal Power Investment Summit 2018, President Bhandari tried to assure investors about the congenial atmosphere for investment by taking due consideration of their interest and needs. 

“We need capital and technology for the implementation of large scale hydropower projects and the government will accord top priority to attract foreign investment and technology,” said Bhandari. “The investors will also benefit from the growing demand for electricity in Nepal as well as South Asia.” 

Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri cautioned that Nepal shouldn’t dilly-dally in unleashing its potential in hydropower sector as the rest of the world would be moving towards cheaper solar energy options soon. “In the backdrop where solar power is getting cheaper day by day, hydropower will lose its competitive advantage to solar energy soon,” said Puri giving key note speech at the summit. “Therefore, Nepal should act fast in developing the hydropower projects.” 

Puri also suggested Nepal to prioritise mega projects which could be a game changer for the society and the country in terms of employment generation and economic development. “Nepal should immediately start developing large projects to provide energy at competitive rates,” said Puri in the summit participated by high level delegates from SAARC region, ministers, government officials, ambassadors to Nepal, bankers, financers and developers of energy projects. 

The ongoing summit, according to Energy Development Council (EDC), the organiser, is an effort to create a platform for one-step business by matching industry players to share knowledge and expand business in the energy sector.

The organiser has also claimed that participants of the three-day summit will have access to investors willing to provide debt financing ranging from $5 million to $20 billion for various power projects that include hydro, solar and wind energy. 

Similarly, companies with total capacity of $3 billion equity financing are also participating in the event, according to the organiser. 

The EDC is also organising training opportunities on various key topics such as engineering, procurement, construction and financing (EPCF) model of developing power project, hydro equipment and renewable energy. 

These training programmes will be conducted by world renowned energy associations and Fortune 500 companies. 

The summit will also include high profile speakers from SAARC, BIMSTEC, Asean along with nationally and internationally acclaimed energy and business personalities and diplomats from the neighboring countries.