The office bearers, including the chairman of IPPAN, have made public the dissatisfaction of stakeholders, saying that the main demands have not been met in the energy budget.
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Ganesh Karki, President of the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN), has said that since the budget is for only one year, not all the issues demanded will be included in the budget. Addressing the 'Next IPPAN for the Development of the Energy Sector' program, Karki said that the implementation of all the issues included in the budget is a big issue. 'The budget is for one year. Not all issues may be included in the budget. Some issues should be included in the law. There is no need to be happy just because they are included in the budget and sad if they are not included,' he said. 'There are also examples where the provisions included in the budget could not be implemented.' However, Karki said that due to IPPAN's lobbying, the energy sector agendas are being included in the manifestos of the main political parties.
He also said that not only investors investing in hydropower, but everyone is now interested in IPPAN. He clarified that they are demanding a state of emergency instead of a sunset law for the development of the energy sector. 'Now the time has come to tell the government to open the PPA, we should sit together and focus on implementation,' he said.
He said that even though it was decided to make IPPAN a federation, it has already been decided not to join the federation as it cannot be done immediately. He also recalled that it has been decided to move forward by amending the constitution in a timely manner.
He also said that provisions have been brought forward to hold elections for all posts including the senior vice president and to remove the deputy secretary general. He also said that the leadership change to be held at the end of this month should be done unanimously.
He also said that the issues that have come up in the energy sector in the budget for the coming fiscal year can be viewed in both positive and negative ways.
IPPAN Senior Vice President Mohan Dangi said that the statute has been amended to hold elections for the next term from senior vice president to executive committee, saying that the organization should be opened up because it is large. Dangi said that he was not happy with the budget brought by the government for the upcoming fiscal year. He defended that even though the PPAs for projects up to 10 MW have been opened, questions about what will happen beyond that are legitimate. He said that many challenges including PPAs will have to be faced. He also emphasized that the upcoming term should be unanimous.
IPPAN Vice President and Senior Vice President contender Uttam Vlon Lama said that the process of registering the federation is limited to discussions. Saying that I have no problem waiting for 6 months, he emphasized that the organization should proceed according to the statute. He said that the statute will be amended according to everyone's advice. Lama said that if everyone unanimously approves Balaram Khatiwada as the senior vice-president of IPPAN, I am also ready to agree.
Promoter Guru Neupane suggested lobbying for it, saying that even after 5 years since his company applied for PPA, nothing has happened. 'IPPAN should be able to become an advisor to the government,' he said, 'The working committee should be made small and the secretariat should be made large. '
He also suggested that they discuss among themselves on the eve of the general assembly, saying that they were divided into two streams. He also said not to fight for power. He said that IPPAN should be resourceful.
IPPAN Deputy Secretary General Prakash Chandra Dulal said that although he hoped to open the PPA from the budget of the next fiscal year, the government has not opened it. 'We had hoped that the PPA would be opened from the budget, but the government opened only projects smaller than 10 MW that were stalled due to the budget,' he said, 'PPs of other projects were not opened.'
He said that despite the increase in the prices of everything from construction materials, the Nepal Electricity Authority has not changed the PPA rate.
Although the government has demanded that value added tax (VAT) be imposed on hydropower projects, Dulal says that the government has imposed it only on the electricity sold by the authority. He says that a single project pays more than 20 million rupees in tax.
Stating that VAT will be imposed only from next Shrawan, he urged for amendments to the VAT Act so that promoters can also get it.
