Minister Bhusal and World Bank Vice-Prez Schafer discuss Nepal’s energy sector

September 24, Kathmandu: Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal on Friday met the World Bank’s representatives including its Vice-President for South Asian region Hartwig Schafer.

In the meeting held at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, the Minister and the World Bank representatives discussed various projects funded by the World Bank.

Minister Bhusal, on the occasion, appreciated the contribution made by the World Bank in the development of Nepal and expressed her confidence that more cooperation would be extended in the coming days.

Hoping that the World Bank-funded projects would be completed on time and Nepali people would be benefited, Minister Bhusal said, “We want to realize development projects at the earliest. For us, it is the time that matters more than the economic resources this moment.”

The Minister further said they had been continuously striving for the rights of people, and assured the visiting World Bank team that they would always be aware and alert to secure the welfare of the public.

Similarly, World Bank’s Vice-President Schafer expressed his concern about the cooperation extended by the World Bank in the economic development of Nepal.

He shared that the World Bank had been investing in road infrastructures, agriculture development, education and poverty eradication among other areas and said that it was keen on investing in the energy sector of Nepal.

Likewise, Nepal Electricity Authority’s Executive Director Kulman Ghising said they were hard-pressed for the time when it came to development.

Ghising said electricity produced in Nepal would go in vain since the construction of transmission lines were not completed in time.

The World Bank has provided concessional loans for the construction of the 400-kV Hetauda-Dhalkebar transmission line and Hetauda-Bharatpur-Bardaghat 220-kV transmission line.

Furthermore, discussions were being held to obtain a concessional loan for the 1,061MW Upper Arun Hydro Power Project in Sankhuasabha district.