It is not common for hydropower companies to mobilize middlemen from the Securities Board (Sebon) to ask for commission for the initial share issue (IPO) and to ask for a commission of up to 7 percent. Soon after the allegations were made public, the Abuse of Authority Investigation Commission raided Sebon.

The commission's statement that written and verbal complaints have been received regarding the functioning of the board and that it has started an investigation after more information came out in recent days indicates that the regulatory body of the capital market is going through a serious crisis.

In the days to come, from the board leadership to the hydropower promoters who make accusations, the real details should come to the surface as soon as possible because they will make their own arguments and counter-arguments and confusion may arise from that. It can protect the dignity of common people and public institutions in the capital market.

As of Wednesday, 89 companies have applied for IPO permission worth Rs 56 billion 793 lakh 27 thousand 132 in the Securities Board. The largest number of them are 43 companies belonging to the hydropower group. According to the Independent Power Producers Association (IPPAN), 43 projects with a capacity of 1009.52 MW are awaiting IPO clearance.

They are planning to raise about 24 billion from the IPO. 1 billion 20 million rupees even with 5 percent commission. On the one hand, the promoters have suffered losses due to the unnatural delay in the IPO. On the other hand, if the commission is also demanded through middlemen as alleged, then it is understandable that they would have suffered more.

Such tendencies should not be forgiven. The Sebon presidency is also seen as one of the reasons for the collapse of the previous ruling coalition. Which has established that the subject of reaching or being promoted to this post is not just a general appointment. Considering this background, it is desirable to reject the allegations of the promoters.

The promoters say that due to not getting the IPO permission on time, the cost has increased to more than 250 million from the image. It is said that an additional 4 billion 96 million rupees interest had to be paid to the bank and the cost of the projects increased to 21 billion 87 million 29 lakh 33 thousand. Similarly, 24.84 billion rupees to be raised from the general public through IPO and rights shares by the electricity company has been stopped. They say that 55.52 billion 3.6 million income has also been lost due to the lack of issue of

shares. Such a situation never creates an investment environment. This can be a reference to analyze why the environment for investment is not being created not only in hydropower, but also in other sectors, and it will also be a starting point if improvements are desired.

Another topic that has been questioned about the IPO permission is the criteria. After Santosh Narayan Shrestha was appointed as the chairman of the board, 8 companies from different sectors have been allowed to issue shares. It has been alleged that the criteria for allowing and stopping IPOs are not transparent before and after.

Promoters have questioned the fact that out of the 43 companies that applied for the IPO, even those that claimed to have met the criteria were not given permission. They have asked to give permission to the companies that have met the criteria and in case of those that have not met, to give in writing why it could not be given.

President Shrestha has said that there may be a delay in granting permission because the received application needs to be studied, researched and analyzed in a meticulous manner. As the company raises capital through IPO, their haste is understandable.

On the other hand, the issue of people's investment is also connected here and its security is the most important issue. Therefore, the board should be confident while giving permission for an IPO to a company. Therefore, there is no doubt if the criteria for granting permission or not is made transparent. If the criteria and process can be made transparent so that those who can get it know what conditions they have fulfilled, and those who can't have it can know what conditions they have not fulfilled, then there will be no disputes. Along with the

, the middleman's role also ends. Otherwise, the accusations of giving IPO permission to companies that do not meet the standards, mixing the process based on power and access, and abusing the office by not giving permission for a long time will become stronger.

On the other hand, the government has amended the Good Governance Act, 2064 through an ordinance (which has now been enacted by the Federal Parliament) and made a binding provision that a decision should be made within seven working days of receiving information, evidence or documents related to the matter to be decided. From this point of view, it is not appropriate to stop the IPO of hydropower companies for a long time. Or, if stopped, proper information should be given.

In the energy development roadmap prepared by the government in 2023, it is said that the country's connected electricity capacity will reach 28,500 megawatts by 2035. It is almost impossible to achieve this goal by the efforts of the government alone. That's why the priority of the government should be to work hand in hand with the private sector hydropower promoters, bring policies to encourage them, and facilitate them.