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Rahughat set for capacity upgrade
The Rahughat Hydropower Project is set for a fresh contract with a plan to upgrade its installed capacity to 40MW from the previous 32MW.The Rahughat Hydropower Project is set for a fresh contract with a plan to upgrade its installed capacity to 40MW from the previous 32MW.
Works at the project have come to a halt after the Nepal Electricity Authority cancelled the contract with Indian contractor IVRCL over construction delay. According to project officials, the project would be upgraded by an addition 8MW after reviewing the financial and technical feasibility. Besides, the project has proposed to the NEA to convert itself into company modality.
Ishwor Singh Bohara, site in-charge of the project, said they were working on redesigning of the project. “The project will be developed based on Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) modality,” he said, adding that the consultant company, WAPCOS, has started revising alignment of the project’s tunnel construction.
While the restructuring of the project has been initiated for a fresh contract, the NEA is yet to decide on the issue of compensation as demanded by the penalised contractor. After the Appellate court scrapped its plea, the contractor has filed another writ against the project office, demanding compensation.
Bohara said they had not received a copy of the court’s verdict. “As soon as the compensation issue is finalised, the construction work will resume,” he said. The Indian contractor has been demanding Rs140 million in compensation from the NEA.
The project officials said the Indian company had blamed the NEA for delay, arguing that the authority only hired the project consultant only after two years. Similarly, the company also blamed WAPCOS for delaying to issue “notice to proceed” as a consequence the construction works were halted for two years. The feasibility study carried out six years ago had estimated the project to cost Rs6.7 billion, which is expected to soar due to the delay.
Although the NEA has set the target to bring the project into operation in the next 42 months, only 12 percent of the work has been completed so far.