The Millennium Challenge Account Nepal (MCA-Nepal) has relaunched the call for bids to construct a 297-km power transmission line.

The transmission line to be built under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Nepal Compact will strengthen Nepal’s power transmission network, the MCA Nepal said in a statement on Wednesday.

The bid submission deadline is set for January 30, 2025. Construction is divided into three lots: Lapsiphedi-Ratmate-New Hetauda, Ratmate-New Damauli, and New Damauli-New Butwal.

According to the MCA Nepal, the relaunch follows a comprehensive review of the previous bidding process and includes design optimisations, improved access to tower locations, and updates to commercial terms based on bidders’ feedback.

These adjustments address the main cost drivers identified in the initial bids, ensuring more feasible and cost-effective proposals, it said.

On August 30, the MCA-Nepal successfully awarded Transrail Lighting Ltd. a US$12.36 million contract to construct the 18-km Nepal portion of the Butwal-Gorakhpur transmission line, which will be completed within 21 months.

“After securing the contract for the 18-km segment, we are confident the redesigned requirements for the remaining 297-km will attract strong market interest and competitive bids,” said Khadga Bahadur Bisht, executive director of the MCA-Nepal.

The MCA Nepal said the relaunch marks another milestone in the progress of the MCC Nepal Compact, which has made significant progress over the past year.

With contractors already working on the three 400kV substations and the 18-km transmission line, the MCA-Nepal is on track to implement the remaining segments, further strengthening Nepal’s energy infrastructure, it said.

The MCA-Nepal is committed to the successful execution of this procurement and the transmission line construction works while meeting the environmental and social standards of both the government of Nepal and the MCC, reads the statement.

The projects built under the MCC Nepal compact must be completed within five years after the compact came into force in the last week of August this year.

Nepal’s Parliament ratified the much-debated MCC compact in February 2022, following an agreement in 2017 between the government and the MCC. The MCC compact signing opened the way for the United States to invest $500 million in Nepal’s power and transport infrastructure. The government of Nepal, on its part, contributes $197 million in support of the compact.