Five banks to invest Rs. 7.2 bn in Sani Bheri Hydro Project

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Sept. 2: Sani Bheri Hydro Hydropower Project has secured a loan investment of Rs. 7.2 billion from a consortium of banks led by Citizen Bank International. 

The promoter of the project Expert Hydro Investment Pvt. Ltd. signed a joint investment agreement with the banks – led by Citizens in partnership with Nabil Bank, Nepal Investment Mega Bank, Siddhartha Bank, and Sanima Bank – in Kathmandu on Monday to finance the construction of the 44.52 MW hydroelectricity project. 

According to the deal, banks and financial institutions will contribute 75 per cent of the funding, while promoters will bear the remaining 25 per cent.

As per the agreement, Citizens Bank will provide Rs. 2.5 billion, Nabil Bank Rs. 1.5 billion, Nepal Investment Mega Bank Rs. 1.2 billion, Siddhartha Bank Rs. 1 billion, and Sanima Bank Rs. 1 billion. The project promoter, Expert Hydro Investment, will contribute Rs. 2.4 billion.

The loan investment agreement was signed by the company’s Managing Director Santosh Raj Nepal and Citizen Banks' Chief Infrastructure/Consortium and Corporate Banking Officer, Roshan Malla and chief finance officers of the participating banks. 

Chairman of Expert Hydro Investment, Angish Ghimire and Citizens Bank CEO Ganesh Prasad Pokharel as well as the CEOs and CFOs of the participating banks were present on the occasion. 

The project is expected to be completed within three and a half years of the starting of construction work. Electricity generated from the project will be evacuated through a 23-km-long, 132 kV double-circuit transmission line connecting the project’s switchyard to the Nepal Electricity Authority’s Banfikot substation. 

It is estimated to supply 98.727 GWh during the dry season and 182.386 GWh during the wet season, contributing a total of 281.113 GWh annually to the national grid.

The Sani Bheri Hydropower Project will utilise water from the Sani Bheri River flowing through Putha Uttarganga and Sisne rural municipalities in Rukum East district. 

Siddhi Hydropower Company Ltd. is the main investor, while there will be contributions from Nepali entrepreneurs at home and abroad as well as the general public, informed the company.