{"id":191430,"date":"2022-06-20T20:18:57","date_gmt":"2022-06-20T14:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=191430"},"modified":"2022-06-20T20:19:57","modified_gmt":"2022-06-20T14:49:57","slug":"what-west-seti-power-project-can-mean-for-india-nepal-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/what-west-seti-power-project-can-mean-for-india-nepal-ties\/","title":{"rendered":"What West Seti power project can mean for India-Nepal ties"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

News<\/strong>: India\u2019s National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC)<\/strong> will be taking over the West-Seti Hydropower Project<\/strong> in Nepal, after China withdrew from it, ending a six-year engagement between 2012 and 2018.<\/p>\n

About the Project<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The project will be a storage scheme generating power round the year. The power will be supplied to India, either for domestic consumption or for the trade through its national grid.<\/p>\n

Why did the Chinese CWE Investment Corporation withdraw from the project in 2018? <\/strong><\/p>\n

It stated that it would not be able to execute the 750-MW West Seti Hydropower Project<\/strong> because it was \u201cfinancially unfeasible and its resettlement and rehabilitation costs were too high\u201d<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Why has it been given to India?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba<\/strong> declared that since India was Nepal\u2019s power market<\/strong> and it had a policy of not buying power from China-executed projects<\/strong>. Therefore, the project would be given to India.<\/p>\n

Mutually Beneficial India -Nepal power relations<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Nepal is rich in power sources, with around 6,000 rivers and an estimated potential for 83,000 MW.<\/p>\n

India has formally approached Nepal on many occasions, seeking preferential rights over Nepali waters. India is also viewed as a feasible market for Nepal.<\/p>\n

What are the problems in the Nepal\u2019s power sector?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Nepal has a massive power shortfall. It generates only around 900 MW against an installed capacity of nearly 2,000 MW.<\/p>\n

Although Nepal is currently selling 364 MW power to India, it has over the years importing from India.<\/p>\n

Issues in India-Nepal bilateral relations<\/strong><\/h5>\n

There has been some uncertainty in Nepal over India\u2019s inability to deliver various projects on time.<\/p>\n

(1) India has still not been able to come out with the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Mahakali treaty<\/strong> which was signed back in 1996, to produce 6,480 MW.<\/p>\n

(2) The multinational GMR has not made any headway for years in the`Upper Karnali project<\/strong><\/p>\n

India is successfully executing the 900-MW Arun-III project in the eastern Nepal\u2019s Sankhuwa Sabha. It is being executed by India\u2019s Sutlej Vidhyut Nigam<\/strong> under a BOOT scheme. Its foundation was laid in 2018 and is set for completion by2023.<\/p>\n

What are the challenges ahead?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nepal\u2019s Constitution has a provision under which any treaty or agreement with another country on natural resources will require Parliament\u2019s ratification <\/strong>by at least a two-thirds majority.<\/p>\n

Way Forward<\/strong><\/p>\n

During his first visit as PM to Nepal in 2014, Modi had said India must start executing its projects timely.<\/p>\n

Nepal is also planning to award the 695-MW Arun Four project <\/strong>to the Sutlej Vidhyut Nigam<\/strong>, followed by the decision to award West Seti to NHPC.<\/p>\n

At present, the India-Nepal\u2019s relations on river water projects remained focused only in the power sector.<\/strong> It has to be reviewed. The projects must be made multi-purpose by expanding the scope to flood control, navigation, fisheries, irrigation contributing to agricultural growth etc. This will lead to multiple benefits on both sides<\/p>\n

The Nepali PM Deuba has been developing friendly<\/strong> and \u201cfraternal ties\u201d<\/strong> with the Indian government, after worsening of relations due to standoff between Nepal and India which led to the economic blockade <\/strong>of 2015.<\/p>\n

The successful execution of the West-Seti project by the NHPC, is expected to restore India\u2019s image<\/strong> in Nepal. It can lead to preference of India, in future considerations for hydropower projects by Nepal.<\/p>\n

Source<\/strong>: The post is based on an article \u201cWhat West Seti Power project can mean for India-Nepal ties<\/strong>\u201d published in the Indian Express on 20th<\/sup> June 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News: India\u2019s National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) will be taking over the West-Seti Hydropower Project in Nepal, after China withdrew from it, ending a six-year engagement between 2012 and 2018. About the Project The project will be a storage scheme generating power round the year. The power will be supplied to India, either for domestic… Continue reading What West Seti power project can mean for India-Nepal ties<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10328,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[212,10500],"class_list":["post-191430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-indian-express","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191430\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}