Nepal and India to finalise detailed project report of Pancheshwar Multipurpose power plant

In order to "iron out the differences" and complete the comprehensive project report for the eagerly anticipated 6,480 megawatt Pancheshwar Multipurpose bi-national power plant that would be built on the adjacent Mahakali river, Nepal and India have decided to convene a meeting of specialists. The agreement was made at a meeting of the Pancheshwar Development Authority's governing council, which took place in Pokhara, Nepal.

"The meeting decided to extend the term of the team of experts, which expired in March," said Madhu Bhetuwal, a spokesperson for the ministry of energy, water resources, and irrigation, according to the BBC. In order to resolve their concerns regarding the DPR (detailed project report), the two parties also agreed to hold the next meeting of the team of experts within 10 days, according to the source.

A bi-national hydroelectric project called the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project (PMP) will be built on the Mahakali River, which separates Nepal from India. The integrated Mahakali Treaty, which Nepal and India signed in 1996, governs the development of the project. It stipulates that 3,240 MV underground powerhouses of equal size will be built on either bank of the Mahakali River in India and Nepal.

In addition to producing power, the project will also irrigate 130,000 hectares of land in Nepal and 240,000 hectares of land in India, as well as providing other incidental advantages including flood protection. However, due to disagreements on a few controversial areas, a mutually acceptable DPR for the Pancheshwar Project could not be finalised.

"There were more than 500 outstanding issues, but there are now only 127," claimed Bhetuwal, a joint secretary in the Nepalese ministry of energy. The report said the prime ministers of both countries last month agreed to conclude the DPR within three months during Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda's visit to India from May 31 to June 3. The date of the upcoming meeting of the experts, whose time has not yet been set, is the first step towards that conclusion.

It was decided during Prachanda's visit to India that officials from the two governments would speed up their bilateral negotiations in order to complete the Pancheshwar DPR as soon as possible within three months.