Chaudhary Group President Binod Chaudhary inaugurated the construction of the tunnel at Bhurungdada in Bhuktangle, Parbat, some 45km away from Pokhara. The project is situated along the Kaski-Parbat border.

Himal Hydro & General Construction Ltd, a company promoted jointly by Chaudhary Group and India’s Coastal Projects Limited, is the project’s developer. The company is investing Rs 2.80 billion in the project.

The run-of-the-river type project will have a dam at the juncture of Modi Khola and Bhurung Khola, below Birethanti Bazzar. From there, a 2.8 km tunnel will supply the water to Deupur, Parbat, where a power house will be built.

“We will start generation in the next three years,” said Arun Rajauria, deputy general manager of Himal Hydro. The energy generated will be evacuated from a 132kV transmission line from Kerunga.

A Prime Bank-led consortium backed by Century bank, Global IME, Kailash Development Bank and Clean Energy Development Bank have pledged lending.

Himal Hydro was earlier involved in constructing 14.8MW Modi Hydropower Project developed by Nepal Electricity Authority. Himal has also developed several other projects.

Middle Modi is the sixth hydropower projects within a distance of 25km along the river.

The 14.8MW Modi Hydropower Centre and 10MW Lower Modi-1 have already been constructed, while 20MW Lower Modi is under construction. Other proposed projects include 42MW Super Modi and 10MW Lower Modi-2.

On the occasion, Chaudhary said his group had been considering investment in hydropower for the past 25 years. “The situation for investment in hydro is getting better now,” he said.

Chaudhary also announced work on 44MW Super Madi would start within a year. He said the bureaucracy has been changing, and it is now encouraging private sector investment in the sector.