Lawmakers protest non-implementation of Energy Crisis Reduction Action Plan

Kathmandu / May 30: Most of the lawmakers have objected for non-implementation of important issues mentioned in the Energy Crisis Reduction Action Plan released by the government on February 18.

A majority of lawmakers expressing their views in today’s meeting of the Agriculture and Water Resources Committee under the Legislature-Parliament complained that although the government has released the ambitious policies and programmes, the implementation side was very weak and government has not paid attention over the action plan.

They drew the attention of the government, saying the Energy Ministry has not paid attention for the implementation of the action plan as three months have passed after its release, among others.

On the occasion, parliamentarians—Kashinath Adhikari, Amrit Bohara, among others as well as Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers Chandra Kumar Ghimire, Secretary at the National Planning Commission, Sureshman Shrestha, Secretary at the Labour and Employment Ministry, Bishnu Prasad Lamsal and Joint-Secretary at the Energy Ministry, Dinesh Kumar Ghimire, were also called in the meeting.

NEA losses at Rs 5 billion

Executive Director at the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), Mukeshraj Kafle, who was present in the meeting, said that the losses incurred by NEA has increased and reached to Rs 5 billion due to supply of power brought from India to private projects.

Stating that NEA has to pay Rs 400 million to India every month for this, he complained that they have not yet received the amount from the government. The country has been importing 325 MW of electricity from India.

Kafle, however, urged the Finance Ministry and concerned officials to make arrangement for the budget for this immediately.

In response, Joint-Secretary at the Energy Ministry, Ghimire, said that process has been forwarded asking the Finance Ministry to provide Rs 5 billion.

Investment increased in hydropower sector: NRB

Deputy Governor at the Nepal Rastra Bank, Shivaraj Shrestha, said that Rs 80 billion has been invested in hydropower sector in recent days. A total of Rs 29 billion investment was added in recent period. The NRB has not received the details about the investment put in the sector by development banks and other financial institutions.

He expressed the view that attraction of commercial banks has been found to have increased towards hydropower sector due to mandatory provision of investing at least 20 per cent loan towards the productive sector.

Direction for immediate implementation of action plan

The Committee directed that Energy Ministry to implement the energy crisis reduction action plan immediately.

Committee President Gagan Thapa said that the Committee urged the bodies concerned to bring the declaration into practice and it also gave seven-point direction to different bodies. RSS