DOLAKHA, FEB 09 – A joint mechanism of political parties and locals has finalised the method of share allotment of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project, under which each Dolakha local will get from a minimum of 35 to a maximum of 70 shares.
As per the decision of the mechanism, the locals have to officially apply for the shares by paying a maximum amount of Rs 7,000. If the entire population of the district gets the shares, an individual is expected to get at least of 35 shares.
Locals having citizenship certificates and birth certificates, and migrants who settled in the district by 2008 are eligible for the share.
A meeting of the mechanism on Sunday also urged finance institutions to provide loans to the people seeking to acquire the project’s shares.
Spokesperson Ganesh Neupane said the project has prepared a “working format” to issue 10 percent of its shares worth Rs 1.05 billion to the locals. According to latest survey, 280,848 individuals are eligible for getting the shares.
The meeting also decided to set up a collection centre in each VDC to provide equal access to all the residents.
In the first stage, the Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) will approve the allocation of 10,500,090 units of shares with a face value of Rs 100 each. Then, the regulator will approve 17.28 percent (worth Rs 1.82 billion) for the depositors of Employee Provident Fund.
Sebon has also started preparations for allotting 3.84 percent shares (worth Rs 401.4 million) to workers of the hydropower company and Nepal Electricity Authority, and shares worth Rs 241.4 million to the staff of Rastriya Beema Sansthan, Employee Provident Fund and Nepal Telecom.
In the last stage, the company would conduct an Initial Public Offering (IPO) to allot 15 percent of its shares to the general public. The project plans to provide additional shares to the people from Lamabagar, Gaurishankar—the main affected area.
Being developed with an investment of Rs 35.29 billion, 72 percent of the project’s construction work has been completed. It aims to come online by July 2016.
Source : The Kathmandu Post
