International Relations
In News: India will be taking over an ambitious hydropower project in Nepal — West Seti — nearly four years after China withdrew from it
- India’s National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) has already begun preliminary engagement of the site in far-western Nepal
- The CWE Investment Corporation, a subsidiary of China Three Gorges Corporation, had informed the Nepal Government in August 2018 that it would not be able to execute the 750-MW West Seti Hydropower Project it had undertaken on the ground that it was “financially unfeasible and its resettlement and rehabilitation costs were too high”
India -Nepal power relations
- Nepal is rich in power sources with around 6,000 rivers and an estimated potential for 83,000 MW.
- India is viewed as a feasible market for Nepal, but there has been some uncertainty in Nepal over India’s inability to deliver projects on time
- For instance – an ambitious Mahakali treaty was signed back in 1996, to produce 6,480 MW, but India has still not been able to come out with the Detailed project Report.
- What has helped build faith recently is India’s success in executing the 900-MW Arun Three project in eastern Nepal’s Sankhuwa Sabha
West Seti success is expected to restore India’s image in Nepal and give it weightage in future considerations for hydropower projects, when competition is bound to be tough. West Seti, therefore, has the potential to be a defining model for Nepal India’s power relations in future.
Source: Indian Express
Previous Year Questions
Q.1) Recently, India signed a deal known as ‘Action Plan for Prioritization and Implementation of Cooperation Areas in the Nuclear Field’ with which of the following countries? (2019)
- Japan
- Russia
- The United Kingdom
- The United States of America
