Banks to invest in hydropower

REPUBLICA
KATHMANDU, Nov 18: Laxmi Bank on Thursday inked an agreement with Sanima Mai Hydropower Pvt Ltd to finance its 15.6 megawatt Mai Project, which is being constructed on Mai Khola of Ilam district.

The Rs 2.7 billion project had received power generation license from the Ministry of Energy (MoE) in September 14, 2010 and Laxmi Bank has agreed to invest Rs 304 million in the project.


Apart from Laxmi Bank, Nabil Bank will also investing Rs 294 million in the project.

Likewise, other banks like DCBL will invest Rs 223 million, Bank of Asia Rs 178 million and Janata Bank, Nepal SBI Bank and Kumari Bank will invest Rs 178 million each in the project.

Similarly, Bank of Kathmandu, Siddhartha Bank and Machapuchchhre Bank will invest Rs 134 million, while ACE Development Bank will invest Rs 90 million in the project.

Sanima Mai Hydropower is expected to generate around 103.19 GW of power annually. The company signed power purchase agreement (PPA) with Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in April 2010.

According to the release, the company is promoted by 48 institutional and individual promoters, including Sanima Group, non-resident Nepalis and professionals from the Nepali hydropower sector. The lenders have made a commitment to finance about 75 percent of the total project expenses, while rest of the investment will come from the promoters.