NEA seeks loan to pay India for electricity
KATHMANDU:
The Finance Ministry has given consent to Nepal Electricity Authority to take loan amounting to eighty crores from Citizens Investment Fund (CIF) to pay dues to India, which has been pending for more than six months.
Nepal buys up to 100 MW electricity from India. NEA had earlier asked the government for unconditional loan, but after this did not materialise, it proposed to keep Devighat hydro-project (15 MW) as guarantee for the CIF loan. Though the ministry has given the given the green signal for this loan, it has put forth conditions on the use of money.
According to sources, the ministry wants the money to be used only for paying dues to India and has specifically said the money is not to be used for projects like Chamelia, Kulelkhani 3-A and for transmission lines.
NEA had sought Rs 1.5 billion loan for the first installment unconditionally.
“This has given relief to some extent,” said Dipendranath Sharma, Managing Director, NEA. At present, NEA has been paying about Rs 16 crores every month to India. The amount fluctuates as per the need for energy in the country.
After the Finance Ministry’s conditional consent, NEA is confused whether or not to take the loan. According to NEA, it owes India around Rs 80 crores. The dues have been pending for the last six months. Besides, NEA is in financial trouble after contractors threatened to stop work on various projects due to untimely payments. Thus, the loan will not solve NEA’s problems, though it will help lower dues.
This is not the first time NEA has taken loan against one of its projects as guarantee. A few months ago, it had put the Middle Marsyangdi project (70 MW) as guarantee with Employees Provident Fund for loan investment of Rs 10 billion for Upper Tamakoshi Hydro-project (456 MW).
High level NEA officials are furious. They have criticised the government for not providing loan as per NEA needs. “When we were good, the government sucked us by taking each and every facility from NEA ranging from vehicles to money, but when we are in trouble it behaves badly,” said Rameshwor Yadav, GM, customer service.
The Finance Ministry, on the other hand, criticises NEA. For the past few years, it has made the process of obtaining loan difficult for NEA. Besides, NEA is not only in dire straits financially, it is also heavily politicised. It has been accused of not being able to complete projects on time. Its cumulative loss at present stands at about Rs 27 billion and the amount is increasing.
Source: THT
The Finance Ministry has given consent to Nepal Electricity Authority to take loan amounting to eighty crores from Citizens Investment Fund (CIF) to pay dues to India, which has been pending for more than six months.
Nepal buys up to 100 MW electricity from India. NEA had earlier asked the government for unconditional loan, but after this did not materialise, it proposed to keep Devighat hydro-project (15 MW) as guarantee for the CIF loan. Though the ministry has given the given the green signal for this loan, it has put forth conditions on the use of money.
According to sources, the ministry wants the money to be used only for paying dues to India and has specifically said the money is not to be used for projects like Chamelia, Kulelkhani 3-A and for transmission lines.
NEA had sought Rs 1.5 billion loan for the first installment unconditionally.
“This has given relief to some extent,” said Dipendranath Sharma, Managing Director, NEA. At present, NEA has been paying about Rs 16 crores every month to India. The amount fluctuates as per the need for energy in the country.
After the Finance Ministry’s conditional consent, NEA is confused whether or not to take the loan. According to NEA, it owes India around Rs 80 crores. The dues have been pending for the last six months. Besides, NEA is in financial trouble after contractors threatened to stop work on various projects due to untimely payments. Thus, the loan will not solve NEA’s problems, though it will help lower dues.
This is not the first time NEA has taken loan against one of its projects as guarantee. A few months ago, it had put the Middle Marsyangdi project (70 MW) as guarantee with Employees Provident Fund for loan investment of Rs 10 billion for Upper Tamakoshi Hydro-project (456 MW).
High level NEA officials are furious. They have criticised the government for not providing loan as per NEA needs. “When we were good, the government sucked us by taking each and every facility from NEA ranging from vehicles to money, but when we are in trouble it behaves badly,” said Rameshwor Yadav, GM, customer service.
The Finance Ministry, on the other hand, criticises NEA. For the past few years, it has made the process of obtaining loan difficult for NEA. Besides, NEA is not only in dire straits financially, it is also heavily politicised. It has been accused of not being able to complete projects on time. Its cumulative loss at present stands at about Rs 27 billion and the amount is increasing.
Source: THT
