Energy Minister Barsha Man Pun officially distributed the initial public offerings of Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Limited to the local people from Dolakha district, on Wednesday. The project is allotting 10 percent of its primary shares to the local people affected by the project’s construction.

The hydropower company is issuing 10,590,000 unit shares for the locals of Dolakha district. This will last till August 30. The company has also targeted to issue 15,885,000 unit shares (15 percent of the total capital) to the general public.

Out of the issuance to the local people, the company will collect Rs1.05 billion. Similarly, the company will be collecting Rs1.58 billion when it opens its IPO to the general public.

As per the provision, an individual from the project construction area can apply for 30 units and a maximum of 300 units. ICRA Nepal has assigned Grade 4 rating to the Upper Tamakoshi IPO.

Speaking at a programme, Minister Pun said the government through allotting the shares to local people has targeted to involve key stakeholders in the development projects. According to him, the government is seeking to involve general people to generate investment of Rs6 billion to construct additional 3,000 MW hydropower projects.

As per the government record, there are a total of 5.6 million households in the country. Pun said the government has targeted to make all of these households invested in hydropower projects. “Through ensuring a dividend, we have targeted to generate investment of Rs10,000 per person in the hydropower sector,” Pun said.

The government statistics shows that a total of 281,000 people are residing in Dolakha district.

Upper Tamakoshi has provisioned centres in both Dolakha and Kathmandu districts to collect IPO applications from local residents.

 Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has the largest stake in the hydropower company at 41 percent. Nepal Telecom holds 6 percent shares while Rastriya Beema Sansthan and Citizen Investment Trust holds 2 percent shares each. Similarly, 24 percent of the stakes has been allocated for the workers of Employees Provident Fund and NEA, among others.