Nepal says to scrap hydropower deal with Chinese firm

[Ryuzaki]

KATHMANDU: Nepal's government said on Tuesday it will build a 750 megawatt hydroelectric plant that was earlier cleared to be developed by China's state-owned Three Gorges International Corp, in a surprise announcement made while laying out the annual budget.

"We will mobilize Nepal's internal resources and build the West Seti hydroelectric project," the country's Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada said while unveiling a $12.18 billion annual budget in parliament on Tuesday.

The announcement effectively scraps a $1.6 billion plan by the Chinese firm to build the plant on West Seti river in the west of the Himalayan nation, the second such plant to be withdrawn from Chinese builders in six months.

According to Nepali officials, work had yet to begin as the Chinese company was haggling with the government for better terms on construction and tariffs.

In November last year, Nepal scrapped a $2.5 billion deal with another Chinese company, Gezhouba Group, to build a 1,200 MW hydroelectric plant on the Budhi Gandaki river also in west Nepal.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/wor...ydropower-deal-with-chinese-firm-1821142.html

 

[atan651]

Let Nepal foots its own bills if it wants to develop its own economy.