|
|
|
|
National Tree Day Planet Ark Home
|
|
|
||
|
Australia's SMEC set to build Nepal hydro plant |
||
|
Mail this story to a friend | Printer friendly version
|
||
| AUSTRALIA: October 9, 2002 | ||
|
MELBOURNE - Australia's Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (SMEC) is set to build a $860 million hydro-electricity plant in Nepal after agreeing to negotiate a contract to sell power to India.
|
||
|
SMEC West Seti Hydro-electric Corporation Ltd, a unit of the privately owned SMEC Group, said yesterday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Power Trading Corporation of India Ltd. SMEC General Manager Project Finance Sam Lackey told Reuters the company has been working on plans for the proposed 750 megawatt West Seti hydro-electricity plant since 1996 and hopes to begin construction in March 2004. "A lot of people are watching how this project develops to see if large projects can be developed efficiently and effectively in Nepal, which has huge hydro-electric development potential," Lackey said. He said SMEC has signed a project agreement with the Nepal government, which last week approved the environmental impact assessment report for the hydro-electricity plant. Lackey said the company will now begin raising finance for the project and will be making presentations to equity investors in Asia and Europe during the next few months. Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile said in a statement yesterday that construction of the hydro-electricity plant would make the SMEC Group the largest single foreign investor in Nepal.
|
||
|
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
|
||
|
