The Nepal government has inaugurated the Upper Tamakoshi hydropower project with an installed capacity of 456MW.
The project is expected to make the country a power exporter in the monsoon season. The Upper Tamakoshi hydropower project started in 2011 and was supposed to complete in six years, yet change in the design of the main tunnel, earthquake in 2015, India’s trade blockade in the same year and a lockdown imposed to contain the Covid-19 have all contributed to the delay and cost overrun of the project. Initially, the project was expected to cost USD409 million including the interest to be paid to creditors, now the estimated final cost has reached around USD709 million. Further, the project would contribute around 1 per cent to the country’s GDP.