Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Company and Sanjen Hydropower Company are all set to make initial public offerings (IPOs) worth Rs2.51 billion. The two companies are owned by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and its subsidiary Chilime Hydropower Company.

Rasuwagadhi and Sanjen will be offering 25.1 million ordinary shares for sale to employees and depositors of the Employee Provident Fund (EPF), employees of the NEA and employees of local bodies in Rasuwa district where the two companies are building hydropower projects.

According to NEA Managing Director Kulman Ghising, the two companies will publish public notices on Sunday inviting applications from qualified investors. Rasuwagadhi will issue 16.42 million ordinary shares worth Rs1.64 billion while Sanjen will issue 8.76 million shares worth Rs876 million.

Depositors of EPF, the financier of the two projects, have to apply for the shares from February 11 to March 14. Likewise, employees of the NEA, EPF, Chilime and local bodies of Rasuwa district have to apply for the shares from March 19-27.

Rasuwagadhi Hydropower has set aside 13.3 million ordinary shares worth Rs1.33 billion for those who have their provident fund accounts with the EPF, according to Madhav Prasad Koirala, CEO of the hydropower company.

Similarly, it has allocated 2.39 shares worth Rs239 million to employees of the NEA, Chilime and local bodies of Rasuwa district, and 684,210 shares worth Rs68.42 million to EPF employees.

Investors have to apply for a minimum of 50 shares. While depositors of the EPF and employees of the NEA, Chilime and local bodies can apply for a maximum of 500 shares, EPF employees can apply for up to 2,500 shares.

Likewise, Sanjen Hydropower has reserved 7.11 million shares worth Rs711.75 million for depositors of the EPF. It has allocated 1.27 million shares worth Rs127.75 million to employees of the NEA, Chilime and local bodies, and 365,000 shares worth Rs36.50 million to EPF employees.

Investors have to apply for a minimum of 50 shares. While depositors of the EPF and employees of the NEA, Chilime and local bodies can apply for a maximum of 300 shares, EPF employees can apply for up to 1,000 shares in Sanjen Hydropower Company.

Both companies are planning to offer shares to project-affected locals of Rasuwa district and the general public in the near future.

Around 60 percent of the construction work on the 111 MW Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project being developed by Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Company has been completed, and the company is planning to generate electricity from the project by December 2019.

Likewise, Sanjen Hydropower Company has completed 68 and 58 percent of the construction work on the 14.8 MW Upper Sanjen and 42.5 MW Lower Sanjen projects respectively.