828 MW Uttarganga Hydropower Project Gets Go Ahead After Two-Decade Wait

KATHMANDU; The long-delayed 828 MW Uttarganga Reservoir Hydropower Project (URHP) is finally set to move into construction after the Department of Electricity Development (DoED) granted the project its production license on August 5.

The license clears a major procedural hurdle for the reservoir-based project, which has remained stalled for nearly two decades amid disputes over water diversion and the project’s design.

The project is being developed by Uttarganga Power Company Limited, a subsidiary of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). Following the latest decision, the project will proceed with a design that diverts water from the Uttarganga River to the Nisikhola rather than the previously proposed Bheri system.

Badri Kuinkel, information officer at the DoED, confirmed that the department had issued the production license for the project.

The government is now preparing to initiate the bidding process for construction within the current fiscal year. With the production license in place, attention is expected to shift toward financial management, contractor selection and other preparatory work required to take the project into construction.

According to the detailed project report, the project will harness water from the Uttarganga River in the Dhorpatan Valley of Dhorpatan Municipality, Baglung. A high dam will be constructed across the river to create a reservoir, while the stored water will be diverted to the Nisikhola through a 6.51-kilometre main tunnel before being used to generate electricity.

The project’s reservoir-based design is also in line with the government’s growing priority for storage hydropower projects, which can provide more reliable electricity generation during dry-season months.

The granting of the production license is therefore being viewed as a significant breakthrough for Uttarganga, removing one of the key procedural obstacles that has kept the strategically important project in limbo for years.

Alongside the 828 MW Uttarganga project, the government is preparing to advance several other major hydropower schemes into construction this fiscal year, including the 1,061 MW Upper Arun, 210 MW Chainpur Seti, 99 MW Tamakoshi-5 and 77 MW Ghunsakhola projects.