Supreme Court moved against Upper Karnali PDA  

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    supreme_court_buildingKATHMANDU, SEP 25 – The Supreme Court has been moved against the Project Development Agreement signed between the Investment Board Nepal (IBN) and India’s GMR-ITD consortium for 900MW Upper Karnali Hydropower Project.

    Dambar Bahadur Rawal on Wednesday filed the petition on behalf of 36 the residents of the project area. IBN and GMR signed the deal on Friday.

    The petitioner has claimed the PDA was against Nepal’s interim constitution, existing Acts and rules and is not in the interest of Nepal and the Nepali people. He has sought annulment of the deal.

    The writ has made 15 government offices, including the Council of Minister, IBN, and Energy Ministry, as defendants.

    The PDA was signed six years after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Nepal government and the GMR. It took more than a year to sign the final agreement after IBN started negotiations in June 2013. As per the PDA, Nepal will get 27 percent free equity and 12 percent free electricity from the project.

    The equity is equivalent to Rs 145 billion, while 12 percent free energy amounts to 108MW. GMR will have to hand over the project, along with the 100 km transmission line, to the government after 25 years of operation.

    GMR has prioritised India, Bangladesh and Nepal as the possible market for the remaining 88 percent energy from the 900MW project.

    Source : RSS