Government officials said the current policy covers only the hydropower sector. With new technologies being practiced for electricity generation such as solar, and wind, there is a need to incorporate the concept of energy mix. "There is a need to increase domestic electricity consumption as well as investments in the sector," said Buddha Gurung, Joint Secretary at Prime Minister's Office.
During the discussion organized by PRI, stakeholders stressed the need to make the policy private-sector friendly. "The investment of the private sector in hydropower has increased lately. But the government's policy is not private sector friendly," said Ganesh Karki, Vice-president of Independent Power Producers' Association, Nepal (IPPAN). "Currently, the private sector contributes 80 percent to the electricity production. Still, the private sector is ignored. If we fail to complete the hydro project on time, we have to pay a fine to the Nepal Electricity Authority. But when the NEA doesn’t construct a transmission line on time, our power goes wasted. Should we also be paid for the loss?” he said. "So the existing policy is just one-sided." Likewise, the private sector representatives also mentioned the need to allow the private sector to engage in power trading. "The participation of the private sector in electricity production has brought Nepal to this stage. Within a few years, Nepal's installed capacity will reach 8,000 MW, however, all the electricity generated will not be consumed in Nepal. It needs to be sold to India and Bangladesh, for which government initiative alone is not enough,” he said. "Now, we need the participation of the private sector to take a leap in the power trading business." During the discussion, private power producers highlighted the need to ease the overall process of hydropower development. According to them, developers have to visit multiple ministries and departments to get clearance for the hydropower project. According to them, there should be a one-desk policy. They also demanded the government bring policies to encourage the private sector to undertake large-scale power projects. Currently, hydropower projects are being developed at an average cost of Rs 200 million per MW, though in some projects it has reached up to Rs 400 million per MW. According to power producers, the private sector is ready to undertake major projects at a lower cost and the government should introduce policies to incentivize such initiatives. Speaking on the occasion, Gokarna Rajpanth, Secretary at Electricity Regulatory Commission, said the policy should be revised to cover not only hydropower but the entire energy sector. “Preparations are being made to introduce a new electricity act. The new policy should incorporate the issues not addressed by the new electricity act but also brought in such a way that would help in the implementation of the new act," he said. Netra Gyawali, CEO of Rastriya Prasaran Grid Co. Ltd. suggested that the new policy should incorporate the aspect of improving the electricity distribution system. "While we are now emphasizing increasing electricity consumption, our distribution system is not efficient," he said. "These issues should also be addressed by the new policy." Buddhi Paudel, Joint Secretary at Ministry of Forest and Environment was of the view that hydropower projects should also pay attention to water conservation. "If water and the environment are protected, the lifespan of hydropower projects will also be long," he said, "We are trying to amend the laws necessary to facilitate environmental impact assessment of hydropower projects." Arjun Kumar Gautam, CEO of HIDCL said power generation, transmission, distribution, and investment should be kept in one basket. "Earlier, the policy was introduced to increase electricity generation but the other parts were not cared for. That is why, electricity production has been increasing but consumption has not increased," he said, adding, "Along with power generation, equal focus should be given to transmission, distribution, consumption, and investment issues."
