The Budhi Gandaki Reservoir Hydropower Project has been garnering unprecedented public attention and discussion for years. Based on the projected benefits to the country after the completion of the project, it should have been given higher priority and completed.

The benefit-taking phase should have begun. However, due to the entanglement in the investment modality (framework), the project has not been able to move towards the construction phase. As a result, since the budget statement of the fiscal year 2068/69, the government has continuously prioritized the project on paper, but concrete progress has been limited to land acquisition and compensation distribution.

Although the government has declared this project a national pride project, in reality it has become a national joke. This project has become a model for how our development projects get stuck and become sick. To end this situation, it is imperative for the government to decide on a suitable modality for project construction and enter the construction phase.

In the budget statement of the fiscal year 2068/69, the government had allocated budget for the preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of this project. At that time, it was said that the project would be taken to the implementation phase within three years. Again, it was started as a national pride project in 2069/70, with the target of completing the project in the fiscal year 2083/84.

The cabinet meeting held on 24 Chaitra 2079 decided to build the project through domestic investment in the company model. Accordingly, on 21 Ashar 2079, the company was established with the government owning the majority of the shares. Amid all these ups and downs, the construction work of the 1200 MW project has not received a clear direction . As a result, even the hope that the country will benefit from this project has been put in doubt. The reason for this is that the investment modality of the project has been stuck in the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation and then in the Ministry of Finance.

At this time, the investment modality has been prepared to build it again with domestic investment. It has been proposed to issue shares of the Nepal Electricity Authority, issue energy bonds, take loans from banks and financial institutions, provide concessional loans by the government, collect funds from the infrastructure tax levied on petroleum products, issue shares to foreign employed and non-resident Nepalis, and the general public to raise investment in the project. The project, which has a basic cost of $2.77 billion (about 374 billion rupees), has a construction period of 8 years. The project cost is 406 billion rupees, including 32 billion rupees of interest during the construction period.

The modality has been prepared so that the debt and equity (equity) ratio is 70 and 30 percent, respectively, based on the total cost, including interest during the construction period. The government will own 80 percent of the shares in the project promoter, Budhi Gandaki Company Limited, and the NEA will own 20 percent of the shares. The investment modality from the company's board has reached the Ministry of Energy, and the Ministry of Energy will send it to the Ministry of Finance for approval. After receiving approval, it will be submitted to the Council of Ministers by Energy and if the proposed investment framework is approved, the project will move forward towards construction.

The ups and downs of more than a decade make it clear that although the Budhi Gandaki project was a priority in the discussion, the will and the rush to build it did not make it a priority. However, if the country had made a serious effort, a project could have been completed by any means.

It is not that the state cannot raise budget for a project that will benefit the country in many ways. But by limiting itself to paper discussions and rhetoric, the benefits that can be gained by completing the construction of such a large project have not been realized. The national confidence and experience that can be gained from it have also been lost.

Because, if any large project is successfully completed, not only the benefits obtained from it are gained, but also the confidence to build the project is gained. That can be used to build other projects. Not only electricity from Budhi Gandaki, but also employment, business, tourism hub, fisheries, and downstream benefits can be obtained.