State-owned
Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nepal for executing the 679 MW Lower Arun Hydro Electric Project. With the active support of the Ministry of Power, Govt. of India, SJVN won the project through International Competitive Bidding defeating other companies of the neighbouring countries.
At around 11.28 AM, SJVN was trading at Rs29.05 per piece up by 0.5% on Sensex. The has touched an intraday high of Rs29.30 per piece in the early deals.
As per the statement on PIB, the Lower Arun Hydro Electric Project is located in Sankhuwasabha and Bhojpur Districts of Nepal. The project will not have any reservoir or dam and will be a tailrace development of 900 MW Arun3 HEP. The project will have four Francis type turbines. On completion, the Project will generate 2970 million units of electricity per annum. It is scheduled to be completed in four years after the commencement of construction activities and has been allocated to SJVN for 25 years on Build Own Operate Transfer basis.
Notably, this would be the second project awarded to SJVN in Nepal, the first one being the 900 MW Arun 3 Hydro Electric Project in Sankhuwasabha District. Arun-3 Project is being implemented through a wholly-owned subsidiary company of SJVN i.e. SJVN Arun-3 Power Development Company Limited (SAPDC) incorporated in Nepal. SJVN Limited was allotted even this project through international competitive bidding by the Government of Nepal on Build Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) Basis with a concession period of 25 years excluding 5 years of construction time.
The Foundation Stone of the Arun 3 project was jointly laid by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Nepal K P Sharma Oli at Kathmandu on May 11th 2018. Arun 3 HEP is the largest project in Nepal and also the largest investment of around Rs7000cr by India in Nepal. The commissioning of this project will go a long way in fostering friendship between the two neighbours and also lead to accelerated development and economic revival of Nepal. Project construction works are going on in full swing. The power from this project will be evacuated to India through the 400 kV double circuit transmission line to Sitamarhi in Bihar, India, also being constructed by SAPDC.