PM lays foundation stone of Upper Tamakoshi

“This is the beginning of a great economic revolution in Nepal,” Khanal stated. “If we all unite as we have for Tamakoshi, we can build many more Tamakoshis in the country,” he added.

Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal laid the foundation stone of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Limited (UTKHPL) here on Wednesday in presence of a host of his cabinet colleagues and political leaders.

PM Khanal said the 456 MW project -- which will be the biggest hydropower project in the country when it comes into operation in 2015 -- is an issue of national priority and the fact that such a big project is being built with Nepali investment has sent a strong message that Nepalis are capable of building projects with their own investment.
Former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal was scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the Rs 35.29 billion project on January 27 just before the formation of Khanal-led government but the program was canceled following Maoist resistance.

The daily peaking run-of-the-river project, which will provide 456 MW electricity for four hours a day even during the dry season, is expected to provide significant relief from the scourge of load-shedding once it comes into operation in 2015. At present the installed capacity of the country is 702 MW while the peak demand in the dry season is 950 MW.

Experts forecast the peak demand to rise up to 1400 MW by 2015 and say at least another 200 MW will be produced by then apart from the UTKHPL.