India's Patel Engineering has been awarded the contract for the construction of the 669 MW Lower Arun Hydropower Project in Sankhuwasabha. Indian media Economic Times has said that Patel Engineering has been awarded the contract for Package-2 at a cost of 15.93 billion rupees.

SJVN Lower Arun Power Development Company (SLPDC), a wholly owned subsidiary of India's Sutlej Hydropower Corporation (SJVN), has been declared the lowest bidder (L1) for Package-2. The project is targeted to be completed within 54 months.

'We have started the first quarter of the current financial year on a positive note with the announcement of L1 for this important order worth around Rs 1,600 crore,' said Kavita Shirbhairkar, Managing Director, Patel Engineering. 'Nepal has immense potential for hydropower and the Lower Arun project is an important step towards harnessing energy for sustainable development.' She said that Patel Engineering has also worked on another SJVN hydropower project in Nepal.

'With the ongoing work of our Arun-3 hydropower project, which is about 35 km away from the Lower Arun site, and our proven track record across India, we are committed to bringing world-class engineering and timely implementation to Lower Arun,' said Shirbhairkar.

Package-2 will include civil and hydro-mechanical works. This includes the construction of Audit-5 and Audit-6 leading to the head race tunnel, as well as a section of the head race tunnel with a diameter of 10.5 meters and a length of 5.41 kilometers. The surge shaft and its gates, pressure shaft, butterfly valve chamber and access audit, and power house, switchyard, surface pothead yard, and tail race channel will have to be constructed.

Although the contract for Package-1 of Lower Arun has also been awarded, the information about which company has won has not been released. According to the Lower Arun Project Development Company in Tumlingtar, Sankhuwasabha, although the bid has been officially invited, the issue of who has won the contract for which package has not been made public.

Although there is a notice of inviting bids on the website of SJVN Lower Arun Power Development Company, the information about which company has been selected has not been made public.

The production capacity of the Lower Arun Hydropower Project has been increased. The installed capacity of the project has been increased from 474.25 MW to 669 MW. In the project, the flow of 344.68 cubic meters/second coming out of the tailrace of the Arun 3 project on the left bank of the Arun River will be sent directly from the main pond through the intake gate to a 17.4 km long tunnel with a diameter of 10.5 meters.

The cost of the project is estimated to be 92.67 billion rupees. The 66th meeting of the Investment Board has approved the draft project license for the 669 MW Lower Arun Hydropower Project and decided to authorize the Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Board to issue the project license. Accordingly, the project license was granted on 23 Mangsir 2082.

The then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had selected an Indian company on 16 Magh 2077 for the construction of the project. On 27 Ashad 2078, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Investment Board and SJVN. On 18 Jestha 2080, a Project Development Agreement (PDA) was signed between the SPDC and the Investment Board for the construction of Lower Arun.