Congress has taken the stand that the system of 'take and pay' included in the budget should be removed. Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba called Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudal from his own working room of the House of Representatives and demanded to remove the provision.
Party friends are not accepting. If the 'take and pay' is not removed, it will be difficult, the Chairman's opinion is that we should pass the budget only by removing it.'' Energy Minister Deepak Khadka, while speaking in Parliament, said that he believed that the provision would be amended in the budget. Congress MPs have been protesting saying that such a provision has been put in the budget to eliminate the private sector.
Banks will not invest in projects with PPA based on 'Take and Pay', so their investment area will be narrowed . This will disrupt the safe investment environment in the hydropower sector. In one megawatt project, 100 people get employment for 2-3 years and after construction, 10 people get long-term employment .
There is a possibility that a large number of jobs will be lost and unemployment will increase as the construction of the project will stop due to 'Take and Pay'. Promoters say it is also likely to affect the government's ambitious target of generating 28,500 MW of electricity in 10 years and exporting 10,000 MW to India.
The businessmen have been opposing such an arrangement put in the budget by the government. They are demanding that 'Take and Pay' should be made into 'Take or Pay'.
