Nepal’s government has endorsed plans for GMR to build the Himalayan nation’s largest hydro power plant in a small step toward easing chronic power shortages and attracting new investment, officials said on Friday.
The $1.15 billion Upper Karnali Hydro power plant would be the biggest private foreign investment in Nepal.
Govinda Pokhrel of Nepal’s Planning Commission said a Cabinet meeting endorsed a draft agreement late Thursday to allow the company to build the $1.15 billion power plant with a 900 megawatt capacity.
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“This agreement would open the door for more foreign investment to enter Nepal to develop hydro power projects,” Mr. Pokhrel said.
GMR would take five years to build the plant, dam the Karnali River in north-western Nepal and construct transmission lines. It would operate the plant for 25 years and hand it over to Nepal at the end of the term.