KATHMANDU, AUG 11 –
Power Transmission Company Nepal Limited (PTCNL) will start this week the financial evaluation of bidders for the Dhalkebar-Mujaffarpur cross-border transmission line project.
PTCNL, which will develop 40km of the transmission line on the Nepali side of the border, has shortlisted eight bidders for the financial evaluation. The bidders are Mega Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd, Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd, Aster Dependable Services, TATA Projects Ltd, JV of Unitech Power Transmission Ltd, Skipper Ltd, KEC International Ltd, GAMMON India Ltd, and Fedders Lloyd Corporation Limited.
The total length of the transmission line is 140 km. PTCNL is a subsidiary of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
NEA Managing Director Rameshwor Yadav said the project construction would begin within the next three months. “After the financial evaluation, the selected contractor will be asked to start the construction work immediately as we have spent enough time in preparation,” said Yadav. The contractor will have to complete the work within 16 months after the contract signing.
Procedural and document-related work has already been completed, according to NEA. Officials said the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and detailed project report (DPR) have been approved by the Ministry of Forest and Energy Ministry, respectively.
The transmission line will facilitate power trade between Nepal and India. The 40-km portion of the transmission line on the Nepali side is estimated to cost Rs 2.263 billion, while the cost of the 100 km portion on the Indian side is projected at Rs 2.352 billion.
Initially, power will be imported from India to meet the deficit in Nepal. But after large hydropower projects in Nepal come online, the same line will be used to export surplus power to India.
A parallel company, Cross-Border Power Transmission Company Limited (CPTCL), has been set up in India to develop the transmission line on the Indian side.
In mid-2006, IL&FS and Power Trading Corporation India and the NEA had decided to construct the transmission line to facilitate power trade between two countries. Nepal and India had signed a memorandum of understanding in 2009 to develop the project on a fast-track mode.
In 2010, the World Bank agreed to provide a loan of $99 million to expedite the project. The bank recently provided an additional assistance of $39 million under the Nepal-India Electricity Transmission and Trade Project.
The construction of the transmission line is also likely to help Tama Koshi III, Arun III, Balefi and Dudh Koshi projects, which are being developed by local and international developers with an aim of exporting power to India.
Source : The Kathmandu Post
