<figure><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/26344495@N05/50981261653/in/photostream/"></a></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410114/6372051f9c7e80680e0b289cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1363"/><figcaption>Photo: IVAN RADIC/FLICKR</figcaption>Nepalis with battery-operated vehicles can now install a separate household meter to charge their vehicles as part of a drive by the state-owned utility to boost consumption of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/power-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">surplus hydro-electricity</a> from the country’s new plants.Electric vehicle (EV) owners can also opt for a larger capacity meter if the approved load for domestic use is insufficient, and the regulator is also increasing the load limit for industries, and offering additional meters for tenants on multi-storey apartments.A Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) board of directors meeting last week decided on a slew of measures to increase consumption of electricity. Nepal is now generating 500MW more than domestic demand, and this surplus is expected to grow during the monsoon.However, due to an <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-precious-electricity-going-waste/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">imbalance in distribution</a> the country has to import power from India for certain areas of the country, while it sells electricity to India from other parts.“We must increase the consumption of domestically produced electricity at home to reduce spillover and wastage. That is why we are taking steps to make sure Nepalis have better access to reliable and quality power,” says Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) chief Kulman Ghising.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410114/637205229c7e80680e0b289djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1061"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>With the increase in popularity of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/fully-charged-and-ready-to-go/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">electric vehicles</a> NEA is encouraging private companies to set up charging stations in parking lots and open spaces with the new electric meter offer. Local governments will work with the NEA to facilitate the necessary paperwork.Despite a pledge to be fully electric in its transportation sector by 2031, Nepal had yet to take a significant step or invest accordingly, even though last year it <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-reduces-tax-on-electric-cars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">re-introduced a tax rebate</a> for battery-powered vehicles.After complaints that house-owners were overcharging tenants for power consumption, NEA has warned landlords that their mains will be cut if they do so. Further, it is now allowing tenants to set up their own electric meters. Those living in apartment blocks, multi-storey residential buildings and housing colonies will also be allowed to have their own meters.“Occupants of apartments can get electricity directly from the NEA with a separate meter, that way the tariff will be cheaper and the consumption will also increase,” explains Ghising, adding that factories within the same industrial complex will also be allowed separate meters.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410114/637205269c7e80680e0b289ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3242" height="1773"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>The new regulation has also streamlined the mechanism for consumers to settle their electricity bills. They can pay in installments, through mobile apps and even customers who have been blacklisted because of their dues can arrange to pay it back in up to 12 instalments.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-electricity-demand-soars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The NEA</a> is also providing power feeds to refrigerated storage for dairy products, cooperatives-run cold storages and drinking water and irrigation projects operated by the government or communities.The new regulation has also increased the load limit for companies from 50kV to 100kV for which the NEA will supply power via its transformers. If the companies pass the mark, they need to buy the transformer themselves.

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Nepal backs EVs to boost hydro-electricity uptake

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161144/636d1d119c7e80680e0af391jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4032" height="2268"/>T he Electricity Grid Modernisation Project that was signed between the Asian Development Bank and the Ministry of Finance in November 2020 has received an additional $60 million loan. The project which had a start in February amounts to $156 million and has been allocated to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). The project aims to strengthen and modernise Nepal’s transmission capacity and electricity distribution system.

Asian Development Bank Loan received

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d138d9c7e80680e0a992ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="2000"/><figcaption>Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>While almost 10% of the Nepali population continues to live without power, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has begun to export surplus electricity to India citing the absence of transmission lines to transport power to load centres.Nepal reached a deal with the Indian Energy Exchange (IEE) on 1 November and from the following day began exporting up to 39MW of surplus electricity to India as part of the first phase of the agreement. However, even while the country sold excess electricity across the border, many parts of the far western districts of Bajhang, Dolpa, Bajura, Jumla and Mugu are not yet connected to the national grid.Three major transmission lines are in various stages of construction: the Butwal-Bhairawa double circuit which was started two years ago, the Biratnagar-Inaruwa 132KV line that began five years ago, and the Inaruwa-Dhalkewar-Hetauda 400KV transmission line which was started a decade ago.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/india-nepal-sign-power-exchange-deal/">India, Nepal sign power exchange deal</a><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13909c7e80680e0a992bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1960" height="1204">The market for electricity expands beyond the border, but industries at home, particularly cement and steel, are still unable to operate at full capacity due to the unavailability of required electricity.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/insider-trading-taints-nepal-capital-market/">Sarvottam Cement factory</a> in Sunwal of West Nawalparasi has been forced to reduce working hours and run on generators, as the NEA only supplies 8MW of electricity from the 20MW required for the factory to run at full capacity. Of that, only 6MW of the electricity is actually usable because of circuitry and voltage issues.To make up for the shortage, Sarvottam Cement set up its own diesel-powered plant, but this only adds to the cost. NEA supplies electricity at Rs10 per unit, while a unit of electricity from a diesel-powered plant costs Rs27.“The country and industry both would have prospered had the government prioritised transmission lines and increased electricity consumption within the country," says Surendra Mahaseth, manager of the electricity department at the factory. The government made a policy-level decision last year to extend the national grid, prioritising cement and agro-based industries. But delays in the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/generating-electricity-and-cash-for-nepalis/">construction of transmission</a> lines have stymied progress.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13939c7e80680e0a992cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1198" height="1227"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>It is not just industries that are worried. Private power producers which have already started construction are worried that their power will have limited distribution because of the lack of adequate transmission lines. Adding to their doom and gloom is the protracted delay in ratifying the US-supported $500 million <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/power-politics-delays-mcc-in-nepal/">Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) project</a> to build a 400kVA transmission line in Central Nepal to distribute power westwards as well as to India through the Butwal corridor.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/missing-links-in-nepals-mcc-debate/">Missing links in Nepal’s MCC debate</a>, Jeevan R Sharma and David Seddon<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/mcc-damned-if-we-do-damned-if-we-dont/">MCC: damned if we do, damned if we don’t</a>Meanwhile, the Argakhanchi Cement Industry requires a transformer with a capacity of 20 mega-volt ampere (MVA) for its operation, but is only supplied with one for 10 MVA. Like Sarvottam cement, it has set up its own diesel power plant that produces 2.5MVA current.“We have been asking for as much electricity as we can get, and have been promised that it will be available soon,” says Uddhav Karki, manager of Argakhanchi Cement industry. “We will have to see if that happens.”<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13959c7e80680e0a992djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="352">Meanwhile, NEA has started supplying electricity this week through its 132kV Bardaghat-Sari transmission line to supply 30MW of power to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/going-is-tough-for-chinese-investor-in-nepal/">Hongshi Cement Nepal-China joint venture in Nawalparasi</a>. There is hope that more will follow, but so far Hongshi looks like the exception.The NEA has cited delays in building substations and transmission lines as the reason why it cannot distribute surplus electricity during the monsoon, leading to its wasteful ‘spill’. It has blamed private landowners haggling over compensation for transmission lines over their property and lengthy legal battles for the delays."All planned transmission lines under construction across the country should have been completed within two years, but there is a lot of local opposition,” says NEA spokesperson Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai. “If only these pylons could be laid, we could reach customers and not have to waste a single watt.”However, others blame the scarcity of electricity on policymakers who prefer to export electricity rather than expand and expedite transmission lines and substations to increase access within Nepal.“It is like selling food to a neighbour while your own family goes hungry,” says water resource expert Ratna Sansar Shrestha. “We would have earned much more by increasing electricity consumption in the country and reducing the use of fossil fuels. This is the result of a three-decade-long ‘grand design’ by the Nepal government to earn profit by exporting electricity instead of building infrastructure within the country.”NEA could actually earn more from selling power domestically instead of exporting it. Nepal’s private industries are paying up to Rs11 per unit in electrical bills, while the average price of electricity sold to India is just Rs4.33 per unit.Environmental campaigner <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/breathing-is-hazardous-to-health/">Bhushan Tuladhar</a> agrees that successive governments have failed to increase domestic electricity consumption by either not having the transmission lines to take it to load centres, or pricing it too high. He asks: “Why has the government not taken any steps to operate trolleybuses and electric public transportation despite having included it in multiple five-year plans?”He adds that the government has failed to form an environment protection and climate change management committee even though it made a promise to do so years ago.Adds Tuladhar: “When the government fails to build proper infrastructure and a strategic plan to increase electricity consumption for Nepali industries, transportation and households, it is left with no choice but to export it.”Translated from <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/126589">the original</a> by Shristi Karki.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-they-kept-nepal-in-the-dark-ages/">How they kept Nepal in the dark ages</a>, Ramesh Kumar<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-1st-hydroelectric-plant-is-a-museum-piece/">Nepal’s 1st hydroelectric plant is a museum piece,</a> Ramesh Bhushal

Anita Bhetwal

Nepal’s precious electricity going waste

<img width="640" height="350" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea2e9c7e80680e087903jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>A combination of low river flow, high winter power demand and old-fashioned mismanagement have meant that Nepalis are once more suffering from <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-cost-of-light/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">power cuts.</a> Forced to bring out the candles once more, Nepalis have taken to social media to pour their outrage at the government for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kulman-ghisings-tenure-at-nea-in-doubt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">not renewing the tenure of Kulman Ghising</a>, the head of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) who was credited with ending ‘load shedding’ after he was appointed in 2016.The return to power cuts follows Ghising stepping down in September, and the current political crisis. Energy Minister Barsha Man Pun, who is a Pushpa Kamal Dahal loyalist, was among seven Cabinet ministers who resigned to protest Prime Minister K P Oli’s dissolution of the House on 20 December.Nepalis used to suffer up to 16 hours of power cuts a day during some of the worst periods between 2006-2016. An <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/corruption-in-electricity-industry-of-Nepal,3408" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">investigation by this newspaper</a> had shown that it was largely because of NEA officials and the head of the load distribution centre being paid off by industries to provide them dedicated 24-hour electricity feed.  <figure><img width="1050" height="629" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea309c7e80680e087904jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Kulman Ghising was credited with ending the loadshedding after being appionted NEA head in 2016.</figcaption></figure>As a result, electricity was rationed for households across the country and the remaining supply could not keep up with demand. Things got worse in winter when Nepal’s run-of-the-river schemes could not generate their optimum power. After Ghising took over the NEA, he <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/Power-struggle-Kulman-Ghising,3399" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cut off the dedicated feeds</a> and redistributed the saved power to the public. He also slapped a bill to the industries for a backlog of payments, and it is thought that these powerful individuals then pressured the Oli government not to renew Ghising for four more years.Ghising was also lucky because his tenure coincided with new private power producers generating hydroelectricity, and an import agreement with India. But he also launched an aggressive campaign to upgrade the grid, reduce system loss and pilferage from 26% to 15% during his tenure, and manage the grid more efficiently.   However, NEA spokesman Madan Timsina said electricity supply has been interrupted because of poorly maintained transmission lines. “This is not load shedding, yes generation capacity cannot keep up with peak demand in the mornings and evenings sometimes, but the situation has not got to a point where we have to ration power,” he told Nepali Times.  However, an official at the NEA load centre told us that on Monday, the demand for electricity reached 1,434MW which is about 500MW more than the dry season generation capacity. Usually, this deficit is being met by <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/more-than-half-of-nepals-electricity-imported-from-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">imports of thermal power from India.</a>  Every evening this week, the load centre has been struggling to provide uninterrupted electricity supply but has not always succeeded. The NEA official said: “When there is just no other alternative, we cut off the supply for between 15-20 minutes in each locality just to manage the load. This is not a new thing.” This week, Kathmandu Valley’s peak demand hit 377MW, which is actually 50MW less than last year. The reason is the economic slowdown due to the pandemic. Yet, the NEA is finding it difficult to meet even that lessened demand.    “Our transmission lines, distribution network and transformers and are old and they cannot meet high demand, that is why there are sometimes problems on those lines and we have to cut power,” Timsina added. The peak hours in winter for power demand at between 6-7pm, when people are using electricity for cooking and heating, or plug in television and other appliances. It has not rained since September, and the rivers receded,  lowering the electricity available.  Since Nepal has only one reservoir-based power plant at Kulekhani, there is no backup when supply does not meet peak demand. Although private power producers in Nepal have an installed capacity of 725MW, these weeks they have not been able to generate even half of that. NEA’s own plants like Kulekhani, Kali Gandaki and others are producing 500MW. The NEA has been importing 600MW of electricity from India to meet the shortfall in the evenings this week. The utility expects the situation will to improve only in February after the winter rains arrive, and the snow starts melting with warmer weather.  The irony is that NEA and private hydropower plants can generate up to 1,400MW during the monsoon, which this year has exceeded demand reduced during the pandemic. In fact, this monsoon Nepal <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-power-glut-with-covid-19-shutdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">actually exported some power to India</a> in July-August, and lot of electricity was wasted as ‘spill’ during the night time. The NEA’s head of Customer Service said the reason for power cuts this week was because of a weak distribution system, and not undersupply. He said: “Sometimes there is an overload in some neighbourhoods, and sometimes in others, and the system cannot handle it, leading to breakdowns in supply.” The other reason is the delay in bringing a crucial 132kVA transmission line in the southern edge of the Valley from Thankot to Chapagaon and Bhaktapur because of local opposition. This means it is difficult to keep the system stable – especially through lines feeding parts of Patan and Baneswor.   This contradicts the statement to us by the official at the NEA’s own load centre who has blamed a shortfall in supply. Whatever the truth, the Nepali public seems to have made up its mind that the ‘power mafia’ working in cahoots with the government kicked out Kulman Ghising because he was becoming too popular. And without him the country has gone back to 'the dark ages'.

Power cuts are back in Nepal

<figure><img width="1209" height="909" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4b99c7e80680e07bbbcjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Illustration: DIWAKAR CHETTRI</figcaption></figure>An indication of the kleptocracy we live in is that an honest government official who performs well is regarded as a messiah. Doctors who do not gouge patients are raised on to pedestals. The public treats a traffic policeman who enforces lane discipline as a saviour. Perhaps only in Nepal can you be a national hero just for doing your job. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/interview-with-Kulman-Ghising,3409">Kulman Ghising</a> was appointed Managing Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in August 2016 -- a time when the country was suffering up to 18 hours of power cuts daily. Janardan Sharma, the Energy Minister from the Maoist party at the time, picked the right man for the right job at the right time. It was rare enough that an electrical engineer should head an electricity company, because Ghising’s predecessors at the NEA had been road contractors. Remember, Energy Minister Radha Gyawali had pulled Ghising out of the Chilime Hydropower Project in 2012 – because he was doing a good job. He had replaced him with a crony.Within months of being in office, Ghising had <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/Power-struggle-Kulman-Ghising,3399">brought load-shedding to an end</a>. He just did what any intelligent engineer would do: he systematically went about cutting system loss and increasing supply. Ghising reduced leakage from 26% to 15% by cracking down on pilferage and upgrading transmission lines, substations and transformers. He cut off 24-hour dedicated feeds through which his predecessors had been providing businesses low tariff electricity in return for kickbacks.And he met the remaining shortfall with increased production from private power producers, as well as imports from India. His contacts in the Indian power bureaucracy from college days in Jamshedpur came in handy.  <figure><img width="1500" height="908" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4bd9c7e80680e07bbbdjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Nepal’s dark ages of 2006-2016 are a memory now. There used to be public jubilation when NEA announced that power cuts would be reduced from 18 hours to 14 hours a day. The candle industry did brisk business, inverters and solar systems flew off the shelves. Yet, Nepalis were so glad the war was over, they did not have the heart to complain. We expected so little from government that we took load-shedding as a given. It was only later that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-they-kept-nepal-in-the-dark-ages/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">investigative reports in this paper</a> and elsewhere revealed the level of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kulman-ghisings-tenure-at-nea-in-doubt/">malfeasance and mismanagement</a> that had kept Nepalis in the dark ages. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/corruption-in-electricity-industry-of-Nepal,3408">Documents show</a> that through the tenures of managing directors Mukesh Kafle, Arjun Karki and Rameswor Yadav, NEA sold electricity in the black market to major industries, some of which are well known brands and heavy advertisers in the media.The modus operandi was that selected customers got uninterrupted power supply through dedicated feeds by diverting electricity from household consumers. The NEA told the media there was a demand-supply gap, and blamed the war for delayed power projects.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nXzxlnieqEWhen Ghising took over at NEA, he cut the dedicated feeds, slapped a tariff increase on industries, and also handed them bills for past arrears. NEA’s losses was Rs9 billion when <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-cost-of-light/">Ghising was appointed in 2016</a> but its by the time he left this week, its profit has soared to Rs11.1 billion. Reduced domestic demand and production from new private power plants meant that imports from India dropped from a peak of 35% of total demand to 22% this year.  The captains of industry, former NEA bosses and their political patrons who are behind the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/kulman-ghising-to-stay-on/">current campaign not to renew</a> Ghising’s four-year term which expired on 14 September are the ones who benefited from the rotten system that bled NEA dry and kept Nepalis in darkness for a decade.As we reported last month, the Energy Ministry had forwarded its endorsement of Ghising’s extension to the Cabinet, but it was not added to the agenda of Monday’s meeting. Prime Minister K P Oli is said to be against Ghising’s renewal, mainly because he feels the government did not get any credit for ending powercuts, and because “Kulman became a hero”. This envy of Ghising’s performance and popularity permeates through the political class.NCP Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal is said to support Ghising’s renewal because it would hurt the party’s image in the public eye. Oli’s allies, including his new economic adviser Yubaraj Khatiwada and press secretary, have made disparaging remarks about Ghising, and there has also been a social media campaign to smear him. Some senior NCP members also appear to be wary of Ghising’s popularity in case he decides to enter politics. That, actually, may not be such a bad idea. The performance of anyone who succeeds Ghising at NEA will be under close public scrutiny anwyay, and the can-do style of this “Cool Man” may have much more impact as a politician.Kulman Ghising should not be MD, but MP. Perhaps, even an Energy Minister someday.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4c09c7e80680e07bbbejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="764" height="1264">

Transformer Man

<figure><img width="584" height="391" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141116/636ba8669c7e80680e0737dcjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>The Managing Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Kulman Ghising, who is largely credited with ending Nepal’s ruinous daily power cuts that lasted more than a decade, is likely to get his four-year term extended.Ghising was due to step down on 14 September, but after widespread public outrage on social and mainstream media, the Energy Ministry has prepared an endorsement for another four-year term.Sources said Energy Minister Barsha Man Pun has proposed that Ghising be allowed to continue to Prime Minister Oli as well as brought it up with NCP co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal. “The prime minister is ready to extend Kulman Ghising’s term,” a source at the Energy Ministry said on Sunday. “But the has said Ghising will henceforth have to behave like he is a part of the government, and not an independent entity.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kulman-ghisings-tenure-at-nea-in-doubt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kulman Ghising's tenure in doubt</a>, Ramesh KumarIf true, the remark appears to reflect the prime minister’s unease with Ghising’s popularity for having ended the crippling 12-18 hour power cuts for which his predecessors at the NEA are held responsible.  <figure><img width="1500" height="908" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141116/636ba8689c7e80680e0737ddjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1500" height="930" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141116/636ba86b9c7e80680e0737dejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Earlier this week Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada had publicly warned Ghising: “He was not appointed by social media, he was appointed by the government, and the decision on extending his tenure is the responsibility of the government.”Ghising himself had issued a statement this week after rumours spread that his term had been extended. He said he did not deserve all the credit for ending power cuts, and it was a team effort of the government.Pushpa Kamal Dahal reportedly told Pun that it would not reflect well on the government if Ghising was replaced when he is so popular in the public eye.The Energy Ministry sources said a formal letter about Ghsiing extension was ready and would be forwarded to the Cabinet for approval. <figure><img width="1500" height="1056" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141116/636ba86e9c7e80680e0737dfjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/interview-with-Kulman-Ghising,3409" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/interview-with-Kulman-Ghising,3409&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1598882705470000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGY4avowF3s188UAACqQqpWBgIJxw">Ghising is an electrical engineer</a> who systematically reduced pilferage, and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/corruption-in-electricity-industry-of-Nepal,3408" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/corruption-in-electricity-industry-of-Nepal,3408&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1598882705470000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHAU2CzfGU9I4EEzV9HIV8F-I7btA">cut off 24-hour dedicated feeds</a> through which his predecessors had been providing businesses low tariff electricity in return for kickbacks. At the height of the power cuts in the winter of 2016 after the earthquake, Nepalis were getting only six hours of electricity a day. Collusion between NEA officials and industrialists allowed half the 750MW electricity generated to be diverted to businesses.   After he took over, Ghising expedited hydropower projects, removed delays in the construction of transmission lines, and imported power from India to meet winter shortfall. NEA was also able to reduce pilferage from 25% to 15%, saving the utility Rs7 billion a year. Imports from India have declined steadily from 35% of total supply for the past five years to 22% this year (see charts, above).  From 2012 to 2016, when Nepalis faced the longest periods of load-shedding, the NEA cumulatively lost Rs25 billion. The greatest annual loss of nearly Rs9 billion was in fiscal year 2015-2016. After Ghising took over, NEA’s profits soared to Rs1.5 billion, and is now set to cross Rs11 billion this fiscal year.

Kulman Ghising to stay on

<figure><img width="1050" height="629" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914114/636ba5f19c7e80680e0736f4jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Kulman Ghising, the man widely credited with ending daily 14 hours of power cuts is due to step down next month after four years as head of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). His term can be extended by another four years, but powerful businesses whom Ghising targeted as well as their political patrons want him replaced.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/interview-with-Kulman-Ghising,3409">Ghising is a no-nonsense electrical engineer</a> who knew exactly why Nepali consumers were suffering crippling power cuts, and went about systematically reducing pilferage, and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/corruption-in-electricity-industry-of-Nepal,3408">cutting off 24-hour dedicated feeds</a> through which his predecessors had been providing businesses low tariff electricity in return for kickbacks.He expedited hydropower projects that had been languishing, confronted locals who had obstructed the construction of transmission lines, imported power from India to meet winter shortfall and exported electricity during the monsoon surplus. Most Nepalis did not care how he did it, but regard him as a saviour who took them from <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/Power-struggle-Kulman-Ghising,3399">darkness to light. </a>But as his four-year-term comes to an end, there are those who are envious of the enormous public respect he has earned, as well as others who benefited for years from NEA’s favours and want him out. Through all the smear campaigns against him, Ghising has held fast to his conviction that Nepal’s path to prosperity lies in generating enough power so Nepal’s 30 million people can <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/look-whats-cooking-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">switch to electrical appliances</a>, manufacturing and transport, and reduce the growing dependence on petroleum imports. The statistics say it all. From 2012 to 2016, when Nepalis faced the longest periods of load-shedding, the NEA cumulatively lost Rs25 billion. The greatest annual loss of nearly Rs9 billion was in fiscal year 2015-2016. (See graph) <img width="1500" height="908" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914114/636ba5f39c7e80680e0736f5jpeg.jpg" alt="">Ghising was appointed to lead NEA by Energy Minister Janardan Sharma in August 2016 during the prime ministership of Pushpa Kamal Dahal, amidst much resistance from officials who had profited from black marketing electricity.But Ghising’s appointment was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-cost-of-light/">a turning point for the NEA</a> and for the country. Within a year of taking over, NEA’s profits soared to Rs1.5billion, and is set to cross Rs11billion this fiscal year. Even more than lifting the Authority out of the red, it is the assurance of uninterrupted power that has spurred growth and employment in Nepal.Kulman Ghising has often been called ‘Cool Man’ by his admirers for his can-do attitude and his obsession with problem-fixing – attributes rare among Nepal’s politicians and technocrats. He was educated almost entirely in Nepal, and got his engineering degree from Jamshedpur in India. He has served 22 years in NEA, rising up the ranks to promote rural electrification, manage large projects like Chilime, and deal with Nepal’s private power producers.Starting out, Ghising did not have a magic wand. With experience of the inner workings of the NEA and of handling projects in Nepal, he knew what the problems were. And he did what any manager would do: address the losses on the supply side to ensure that it kept up with demand and growth.That is why his first order of business was to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/How-%20to-%20avoid-power-cuts-this-winter-solar-energy-LED,3769">cut the dedicated lines providing uninterrupted electricity to industrial barons</a>. He increased their tariffs and prioritised supply to household consumers.  Ghising knew that Nepal’s electricity grid had some of the highest rates of pilferage and system loss, even among developing countries. Leakage alone was 26%, and NEA started a campaign against consumers stealing electricity from transmission lines with ‘hooks’. By this year, pilferage has been slashed to 15%, saving NEA Rs7 billion.The next step was to reduce system loss which occurs when the distance between the point of generation to consumption is too long. So, NEA set about upgrading transmission lines, substations and transformers. <img width="1500" height="1056" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914114/636ba5f69c7e80680e0736f6jpeg.jpg" alt="">Despite all these moves, there was still a shortfall in electricity and Ghising filled this gap with imports from India through the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission line. But as NEA’s own hydropower plants and private producers started coming online, imports have declined steadily from 35% of total supply for the past five years to 22% this year. This year’s power import from India also dropped because of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-power-glut-with-covid-19-shutdown/">COVID-19 lockdown</a>, which reduced domestic demand for electricity, and increased production from Nepal’s own run-of-the-river power plants due to a vigorous monsoon. With the completion of the 453MW Upper Tama Kosi this year, import from India is expected to drop further, even though there will have to be some power import to meet winter demand spike. Nepal’s monsoon surplus is expected to grow further in the coming years which is why Ghising has been <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-power-glut-with-covid-19-shutdown/">publicly appealing to Nepalis</a> to switch to induction stoves for cooking, and was opposed to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/an-electric-shock-to-nepals-energy-future/">hefty new tax on electric vehicles</a> announced by Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada in this year’s budget.NEA’s revenue has also gone up because of a hike in tariff, despite which demand has also gone up. NEA’s customers have increased by 1.3 million in the past four years, and there has been an annual increase of 20% in electricity demand in that period.  Aside from all these measures, Ghising’s main achievement in the past four years has been his ability to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-they-kept-nepal-in-the-dark-ages/">dismantle the political-business nexus</a> that created an artificial shortage in electricity that allowed a black market to flourish. NEA’s previous heads, dispatchers, and their political patrons all benefited from this scam.At one point in the winter of 2016 when Nepal was reeling from the aftermath of the earthquake and the Indian Blockade, Nepalis were getting only six hours of electricity a day. Collusion between NEA officials and industrialists was allowing 315MW of cheap electricity to be diverted to businesses at a time when Nepal was only producing 750MW. Ghising is an outstanding manager with the simultaneous ability to be both a good cop and bad cop. He used his connections with high ranking NCP officials to deflect pressure from those who tried to discredit him. And he could go to the grassroots to convince locals to let transmission lines and substations in Lalitpur, Kabeli corridor, Kulekhani, or Ramechhap that had been delayed for decades due to opposition. Last year, Ghising went to Rasuwa to personally threaten local contractors who were delaying the construction of a substation critical to evacuating electricity generated by power plants on the Trisuli River. A video of him berating the contactors went viral on social media, further raising his public esteem. <img width="1500" height="930" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914114/636ba5fa9c7e80680e0736f7jpeg.jpg" alt="">It is not that Ghising does not have critics. Some have said he got all the credit for ending power cuts, when it was the fortuitous completion of the crossborder transmission line that allowed him to end load-shedding with imported power. Some say the NEA’s profits are more due to tariff increases than a reduction in leakage. Private power producers also blame him for claiming credit for raising revenue by overcharging them.  Ghising has not been able to move forward on the need to unbundle the NEA’s generation, transmission and distribution so as to make the agency even more efficient. However, some say the NEA should not be fragmented because it would make an agency that Ghising has got back on its feet weaker again. Most of the criticism is fuelled by powerful lobbies against Ghising for sending them overdue electricity bills worth billions. Some industrialists have claimed they never had a dedicated feed, and have been sent a bill. A committee has been formed to look into this, but there has been no conclusion. Prime Minister K P Oli is said to be personally not in favour of Ghising’s extension. Insiders say he has promised the job to Sushil Gyewali, currently the CEO of the National Reconstruction Authority that coordinated earthquake relief. Oli could also be seeing Ghising as someone close to the ‘Maoist’ Dahal faction of the NCP. If Ghising is removed, Oli will face public criticism for pandering to cronies and pushing the country once more into the dark ages. It will add to a long list of this government’s questionable political appointments, real estate scams, and alleged corruption in the import of medical equipment to fight the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/covid-19-spreads-closer-to-nepals-ruling-circle/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">COVID-19 pandemic</a>.

Kulman Ghising’s tenure at NEA in doubt

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101156/636b7a0d9c7e80680e06473ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="352"/>Nepal’s demand for electricity has decreased dramatically since the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-locked-down-now-what/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">country went into lockdown</a> on 24 March in response to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/this-is-a-test/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID-19 pandemic</a>.The Nepal Electricity Authority said that power consumption has fallen significantly following the shutdown of factories, hotels, and businesses. NEA has therefore stopped <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/more-than-half-of-nepals-electricity-imported-from-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">electricity imports from India</a>.The peak demand for electricity, which averaged 1,200 megawatts before the lockdown, had dropped to 945 megawatts on Tuesday evening. The demand further slipped to 446 megawatts on Wednesday morning, climbing back up to 628 megawatts on Wednesday afternoon.Kathmandu Valley, where electricity consumption is the highest, saw peak demand decrease to 290 megawatts on Tuesday evening from a normal average of 350 megawatts. On Wednesday afternoon, the peak demand stood at 182 megawatts.The amount of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-cost-of-light/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">electricity imported from India</a> has also decreased due to the fall in the demand, even though  Kulekhani has ceased operation.NEA managing director Kulman Ghising said only 150 megawatts of electricity has been supplied through the cross-border Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission line during peak hours since the lockdown began, with supply set to further drop to 50 MW from Thursday evening.Ghising attributed the dramatic decrease in electricity consumption to the closure of most factories, schools and offices. He added that some of NEA’s power stations will have to be shut down due to reduced consumption at night.“The load has decreased due to factories, businesses, as well as ongoing development projects ceasing operation”, said Ghising, “It is also that time of year between winter and summer peaks.”Ghising also urged the public staying in their homes to use <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/look-whats-cooking-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">induction stoves to cook</a>  saying that there is sufficient electricity to allow for the unhindered use of kitchen appliances.Acknowledging the possibility of temporary power cut-offs due to weather and technical issues, Ghising reassured the public that NEA staff would be on hand at all hours during the lockdown to handle repairs and get the electricity up and running in no time.

Nepal power glut with COVID-19 shutdown

<figure><img width="1400" height="933" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933619c7e80680e03df95jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>Next week as Nepalis celebrate Tihar, the festival of lights, few will remember that it will mark the second anniversary of the end of paralysing power cuts.Sometimes lasting up to 18 hours a day, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-they-kept-nepal-in-the-dark-ages/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">load-shedding</a> increased the people’s hardship and crippled the economy. The man credited for ending power cuts, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/interview-with-Kulman-Ghising,3409" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kulman Ghising</a> of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) said this week: “Light up your houses this Tihar, there is enough electricity.”The NEA estimates that demand next week will peak at 1,270 MW, but Ghising says there is enough supply from domestic generation and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepal-india-thermal-power,3570" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indian imports</a> to meet it. Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/climate-climax/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Climate climax</a>, Editorial <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-a-fossil-past-to-an-electric-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">From a fossil past to an electric future</a>, Om Astha Rai <img width="327" height="327" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933649c7e80680e03df96jpeg.jpg" alt="">The reason for Ghising’s confidence is that 30MW has been added this year, his efforts to manage supply and cut leakage have increased capacity, and the Kulekhani reservoir is full. Even all this would not have ensured enough power – the real reason there will not be a dark Tihar is because of electricity imports from India.This year, Nepal’s electricity demand reached 1,281MW, but domestic generation never exceeded 525MW. The shortfall was made up by importing up to 505MW of electricity from coal-fired thermal plants in Bihar. Even with that, industries and some districts still suffered power cuts. The end to <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/corruption-in-electricity-industry-of-Nepal,3408" target="_blank" rel="noopener">load-shedding</a> has come at great environmental and economic cost. The average per capita carbon footprint of Nepalis is still low, but it has doubled because of fossil energy bought from India. The electricity import bill this year added Rs20 billion to the Rs150 billion Nepal was already spending to buy petroleum products from India.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/decarbonise-now/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Decarbonise now</a>, Ajaya Dixit<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/electri-city-cars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Electri-City Cars</a>, Sikuma RaiThe government defends the power import, arguing that it is only a stop-gap measure and transmission lines built to import electricity from India can later be used to export Nepal’s surplus power to the Indian market.Former Minister of Water Resources Dipak Gyawali says that is not likely to happen because Nepal’s electricity demand is growing 100MW per year, and there is a lot of suppressed demand that not even big projects like Tama Kosi (440MW) can cover.Instead of building cross-border transmission lines, Gyawali urges the NEA to focus on connecting small hydro projects to the national grid to meet future domestic growth in consumption for cooking and transportation.Sadly, even while importing electricity generated from dirty coal from India, NEA cannot buy clean hydropower from private plants like the 6MW Khani Khola because they do not have transmission lines connecting them to the grid.Says one hydropower investor: “This is the irony of it all: we want to sell our electricity to NEA, but it is buying power from India.”

The cost of light

<figure><img width="1400" height="1190" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/6369335b9c7e80680e03df92jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Catroon: DIWAKAR CHETTRI</figcaption></figure>Forget the horror movies, no more science fiction, stop watching post-apocalyptic Hollywood. We have the real thing coming to a planet near you.If things were not scary enough, the latest report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released in Incheon earlier this month paints a terrifying picture of a dying Earth.This year saw record heat waves and droughts across Europe, Australia, Japan and the United States. Every new hurricane and typhoon breaks world records for wind speed. The hottest years since records started being kept were in the last 10 years, but 2018 was just a trailer of what is to come.If the current pace of warming continues, millions will start dying in heat waves across northern India and sub-Saharan Africa by the middle of the century. Droughts, flash floods and storms will be even more intense and frequent, there will be water shortages leading to starvation and famine. Coral reefs will all die, affecting fish populations. Sea level rise will submerge coastal cities, a fourth of Bangladesh’s land area will go underwater, the Maldives will disappear. Nepal’s mountains and glaciers will lose much of their permanent ice.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-cost-of-light/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The cost of light</a>, Om Astha Rai <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=15778&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Electri-city Cars</a>, Sikuma Rai <img width="327" height="327" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/6369335e9c7e80680e03df93jpeg.jpg" alt="">And that is probably the best-case scenario if warming cannot be capped at 1.5o by 2040. In reality, it will probably exceed 2o. By the end of the century, we are looking at average global temperatures at 4o warmer – this means we should replace the term climate change with ‘climate collapse’.Many of us who have been writing about the climate for the past decades have been called ‘alarmists’ or ‘fear mongers’, but this time it is the scientists who are panicking. The reason is that at a time when action on emission reduction is urgent, populist climate deniers are being elected in democracies across the world. It is getting so scary, citizens and politicians are burying their heads in the sand.These alarming changes have happened with just an average 1o warming since the industrial age. The IPCC report makes clear that in the next decades, whether the warming is 1.5o or 2o will make a world of a difference – 1.5o means heat waves will be less severe meaning millions will not die, the polar ice caps will not melt as fast, fewer plants and animals will become extinct, sea level will not rise by as much, fewer coral reefs will bleach. However, the report warns that governments only have 12 more years to implement measures so that global warming will be less than 1.5o.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=15756&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">From a fossil past to an electric future</a>, Om Astha Rai<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=15845&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Decarbonise now</a>, Ajay DixitNow that we know how bad things are, what are we going to do about it in Nepal? For years we have argued that since we did not create the problem, and what we do is not going to save the planet, we should just try to adapt. But, as a new report State of Climate Action in Nepal shows, Nepal also needs to take mitigation action – not so much to slow global warming, but to save the country’s economy from collapse.Despite international treaties Nepal has signed, and successive governments paying lip service to a renewable economy, the country’s fossil energy imports are soaring, including through electricity imports from thermal plants in India. Solar and biogas programs have languished, and there has been nearly no tangible progress on electric public transport.‘Nepal’s move towards a sustainably renewable future is sluggish, and indeed often regressively heading towards more fossil fuel addiction,’ the report concludes.The most glaring lapse is in sustainable harnessing of Nepal’s hydropower. Chronic governance failure and sheer stupidity of our rulers have resulted in Nepal now importing half its electricity from Indian coal-fired plants, doubling our carbon footprint. New hydropower plants are expected to add 2,000MW in the next two years, but these will barely meet suppressed demands and since they are all run-of-river schemes, the winter power shortage will continue.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/climate-for-change/the-great-himalayan-thaw/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The great Himalayan Thaw</a>, Ajay Dixit<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/interview-with-david-molden-icimod,3074" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepalis paying price for climate change</a>The number of vehicles is nearing 3 million, with public transport vehicles making up less than 3% of the total, and the number of electric vehicles is negligible. There is weak political will to promote more efficient and reliable public transport because of the lobbying power of bus syndicates. Although taxes for electric vehicles have been slashed (see page 8-9), there is no sign of a proactive strategy to wean transportation from fossil fuels.All this is impacting public health due to a proliferation of two-wheelers and lack of emission controls. The poor condition of roads and highways has decreased the efficiency of vehicular transport, but has increased pollution levels.Much more worrying is that Nepal’s annual spending on petroleum products has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-a-fossil-past-to-an-electric-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more than doubled in the last two years</a>, increasing our trade imbalance with India. Flawed energy policy is not just ruining the environment and bankrupting the country, it is also increasing Nepal’s political vulnerability to the outside world.Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/reservoirs-of-suspicion/hydropower-geopolitics%20,3991" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reservoirs of suspicion</a>, Om Astha Rai<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Comment/storing-water-reservoir-Nepal,1042" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Storing water</a>, Bishal Thapa <h2> 10 years ago this week</h2> In the #423 issue of Nepali Times  of 31 October-6 November 2008, the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15330#.W9vq2dUzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Editorial</a> dealt with the elected Maoist government getting back to business after the holidays on the mattter of integration of thier milita with the national Army. Excerpt: 'Government formation, the prime minister's foreign trips, then there was Dasain-Tihar. Finally, there are no more excuses for the government to start governing. But there is one more potential distraction: army integration. The January deadline for UNMIN's mandate is beginning to focus everyone's minds on dismantling cantonments and containers. Those bankrolling the UN are not in the mood for another extension.Given the extreme posturing and grandstanding by doctrinaire Maoists led by Defence Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa and the centre-right supporters of status quoists in the Nepal Army, integration won't be easy. Thapa's rash public pronouncements, and the kangresis whipping up a storm over rumours they heard that Nanda Kishore Pun was being proposed as army chief has needlessly polarised the debate.'  <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/423" data-elementor-open-lightbox=""> <img width="640" height="1014" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/6369335e9c7e80680e03df94jpeg.jpg" alt=""></a>

Climate Climax

Born in Khandbari in eastern Nepal, Parashuram Pathak helped his family around the farm, sold what they grew in the market and lent a hand in the kitchen.&nbsp; After working as a chef in Dubai, San Francisco, Denmark, Australia, and on cruise ships, Pathak has now brought back what he has learnt to the Tusa Restaurant in Bhaktapur that opened on Nepali New Year on 13 April. Tusa uses fresh indigenous ingredients from various parts of Nepal, and fuses them with international methods to produce unique dishes. Pathak is a global Nepali, and is introducing global Nepali cuisine to his homeland. Pathak left an executive chef job to intern at three-Michelin-starred Noma in Denmark, named the best restaurant in the world five times. Noma runs on a philosophy of foraging to rediscover wild local ingredients, and Tusa’s mission is similarly noble: preparing dishes with Nepali ingredients using modern techniques and equipment. “We are taking Nepali food beyond dal-bhat and momo, we are taking it international,” Pathak said on the phone from Sydney. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-baker-rises-to-the-top-in-denmark">Denmark’s best baker is a Nepali</a>, Vishad Onta  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240419180424_1312bc016cbb2fe59c6d4a78d1f8b463af4a10b3f79559a2405fd54ea5b3197a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240419180424_1312bc016cbb2fe59c6d4a78d1f8b463af4a10b3f79559a2405fd54ea5b3197a" data-rendition-name="original" width="801" height="802" loading="lazy" alt="The return of the natives Page 12 NT #1208"> <figcaption>Photo: PARASHURAM PATHAK/FACEBOOK</figcaption> </figure>  Pathak’s team in Nepal includes chefs Rupesh Bohara and Sagar Shrestha who have also worked extensively in Dubai and Australia, and share his vision. The three realised they shared the same dream, and over the past five years have travelled across Nepal to research their menu, collecting ingredients and ideas from homestays, food carts, and nature. The team then scouted for Nepal’s best architect, and zeroed in on Bhaktapur-based heritage conservationist Rabindra Puri who designed the Malla-era house for Tusa in the Nag Pokhari neighbourhood. Bohara and Shrestha have moved back to Nepal for good, and Pathak arrives in September. “I made dishes from all over the world, but when someone asked what Nepali food was like, I had no answer,” says Bohara, “I came back to find out.” &nbsp;“You can get citizenship, a green card, big houses and cars, but where is the self-satisfaction?” asks Shrestha, who has a red-and-blue chef’s knife with the sun and moon of the Nepali flag tattooed on his right forearm.&nbsp; Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/diaspora-diaries/the-return-of-a-master-baker"> The return of a master baker</a>, Raju Pakhrin  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240419180424_c601264463e5a28d4e71a46781f340a53619a08d00949a7aaebfef84e75a319d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240419180424_c601264463e5a28d4e71a46781f340a53619a08d00949a7aaebfef84e75a319d" data-rendition-name="original" width="6000" height="4000" loading="lazy" alt="The return of the natives Page 12 NT #1208"> <figcaption>Photos: TUSA</figcaption> </figure>  Bohara and Shrestha passionately recount stories of their trips across Nepal, speaking of generous lodge owners who introduced them to local ingredients. Tusa can seat 28, and dining here is a sensory experience with a live kitchen. The chefs cook and place dishes on a large granite countertop with induction sections built in. Behind the counter is a grill on an indoor fire with pulley control to adjust the fire. Everything that can be made in Nepal — chairs and tables, ceramic dishes, the grill — is locally sourced. The executive kitchen/laboratory is downstairs. It is spacious, spotless, and contains appliances rarely seen in restaurants here: a sous vide machine that cooks vacuum-sealed packets at consistent temperatures, and a dehydrator for sisnu nettles. A fresh batch of deep purple kimbu (mulberry) muffins has just come out of the oven. Fridges have dry-aged fish and marigold kombucha. Fermentation seems to be the theme at Tusa, and Pathak explained: “Fermentation takes away the natural sugars in food, leaving behind a true, umami taste.”&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/vikings-khukri-passion">Viking's khukri passion</a>, Alisha Sijapati  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240419180424_c59e2b4230864f646bc36108adb951e95ec85da6156740294b1ec715b86acf89.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240419180424_c59e2b4230864f646bc36108adb951e95ec85da6156740294b1ec715b86acf89" data-rendition-name="original" width="5895" height="3930" loading="lazy" alt="The return of the natives Page 12 NT #1208"> </figure>  Tusa itself means ‘shoot’ in Nepali, and can be a dish of fermented bamboo shoots. The restaurant serves a tasting menu with six courses, plus surprises. It starts with a fermented potato and millet roti with charred green garlic and tomato chutney. The bread tastes like a mix of alu paratha and kodoko roti with a satisfying, mild flavour. The chefs do not show off, and overdo it. Dishes are tastefully simple and faithful, a theme that runs through the meal. The second course is a filet of fish charred on one side and placed in a broth. It is delicate and smokey, and does not mask the character of the fish.&nbsp; The next is Batuk Chukauni, a Magar dish with a lentil snack and a yoghurt-based potato achar. The batuk, made of lentil batter, is light and the chukauni has potatoes and peas. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/money-is-not-everything-but-you-need-money-for-everything">"Money is not everything, but you need money for everything"</a>, Rohit Shrestha  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240419180424_e3f51228ff792e8d4297f81f8e67d138584e922ae035d131977494219e5e85c5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240419180424_e3f51228ff792e8d4297f81f8e67d138584e922ae035d131977494219e5e85c5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="The return of the natives Page 12 NT #1208"> <figcaption>Batuk Chukauni. Photo: VISHAD ONTA</figcaption> </figure>  Next is a skewer of jackfruit with a tamarind and mustard glaze that has the texture of a slice of sausage and melts in the mouth. Then comes the first off-menu item: a steak of watermelon, glazed and grilled, tasting sweet, sour and smokey. After that a palate cleanser sorbet made with laligurans syrup adorned with a frozen candied rhododendron petal. Finally the main course: barbeque chicken and chyakla coarse corn grits. The chicken has been brined, marinated, cooked sous-vide and seared on the grill. The delicate consistency of the chicken stands out. Desert is a smooth, creamy cheesecake that uses the local juju-dhau yoghurt. And the last course is a moist, moss-green sisnu cake laced with mulberry jam and cream.&nbsp; There is nothing gimmicky about Tusa. It is the coming together of skilled Nepalis with international exposure who have mixed what they have learnt abroad with the flavours of home.&nbsp; The tasting menu is Rs3,500, and it may take some time before Nepalis develop a predilection for some of its items. The chefs are excited, vindicated, and relieved. Coming back to Nepal, uprooting successful careers abroad to take a chance on Nepal must not have been easy.&nbsp; Tusa had a soft launch on New Year’s day with Kathmandu-based diplomats. Australian Ambassador Felicity Volk was one of them, and wrote on a Facebook post: ‘Chefs who honed their skills in Australia and returned to Nepal to give back. We call it fine dining, they call it #cominghome.’ Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-baker-of-barpak">The baker of Barpak</a>, Tara Aryal Pandey

The return of the natives

For a year or two after the 25 April 2015 earthquake, the residents of Kathmandu were too terrified to return to their high-rise apartments. None of them collapsed in the 7.8 disaster, but many sustained serious structural damage. &nbsp;
Fast forward nine years, and they have all but forgotten that frightful day. Kathmandu is back to building substandard structures, even as land prices drive developers to build taller.&nbsp;
With no more space to spread horizontally, Kathmandu is going vertical. But structural engineers say most of the high rises do not take into account seismicity, soil condition, construction methods, quality of raw materials, fire hazard, and search and rescue in collapsed concrete structures.
“Much of our focus since the 2015 earthquake has been on building and construction, but not as much on where we are building,” warns Sangeeta Singh, Professor of Urban Planning and Deputy Director of Centre for Disaster Studies at the Institute of Engineering.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state">In a disastrous state</a>, Sonia Awale
She adds: “Kathmandu is not really suited for high-rises. We have to first test the condition of the soil, but building permits are being issued without this fundamental step.”
Kathmandu Valley is a former lakebed with soft topsoil prone to liquefaction and excessive shaking, as seen during the 1934 megaquake. Many ruptures tore up the surface in 2015. &nbsp;
During an earthquake, the rock layers below Kathmandu ring like a bell and the vibrations on the surface take between 0.5 to 2 seconds for one oscillation. Buildings also vibrate, but at different frequencies depending on their height, construction material, and arrangement of their structural components.
At five floors, the vibration period of a building is 0.5 seconds, which is the same as that for Kathmandu Valley, and this could cause more damage, says structural engineer Surya Narayan Shrestha at the National Society for Earthquake Technology - Nepal (NSET).
“Building anything that is five storeys or higher in Kathmandu needs special design and structural considerations,” says Shrestha.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/shaking-things-up">Shaking things up</a>, Editorial
Technologies exist to reduce seismic risk in high-rises, and these are used in earthquake-prone cities like Tokyo, Los Angeles, Jakarta or Mexico City.&nbsp;
Base isolation, for example, separates the vibration of the land and the building, reducing damage from soil-building resonance. Base isolators move and stretch under pressure, absorbing much of an earthquake's impact by reducing swaying and shaking. &nbsp;
Seismic dampers change the pattern of vibration altogether, dissipating energy as vibrations move across a structure. But these are all expensive technologies, and none of the high-rises in Kathmandu use them.
However, Nepali engineers who can help with technology transfer are working in the field in Nepal and overseas. Kathmandu’s high-rises are already very expensive, and making them seismic-resistant would be an incremental cost.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/learning-from-jajarkot-what-we-didnt-after-2015-695vpzle">Learning from Jajarkot what we didn't after 2015</a>, Sushil Gyewali
The shape of high-rises also matters. Reinforced concrete buildings with asymmetric designs of the kind that are seen in newer structures in Kathmandu experience more torsion and shear during quakes. High-rises with regular geometry are stronger. &nbsp;&nbsp;
An even bigger concern is that of emergency evacuation and rescue in case of fire or earthquake. Kathmandu fire services do not have ladders that reach the higher floors of most new structures.
“High-rises mean more people and potentially higher casualties,” explains Shrestha. “We need immediate evacuation routes, fire escapes, emergency ladders, and fire trucks that can reach higher. Right now, safety features are voluntary and not mandatory.”
The street access, shelters, open spaces, and evacuation routes are integral to disaster preparedness and the safety of neighbourhoods and not just buildings. Most new high-rises in Kathmandu have narrow access roads.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/rebuilding-resilience-7-years-later">Rebuilding resilience 7 years later</a>, Anil Pokhrel
Since most of the buildings that survived the 2015 disaster were reinforced concrete structures, it fed the misconception that they are safer. But Himalayan seismologists say that if the intensity and duration of the shaking had been just a little higher, many substandard concrete structures would have collapsed.&nbsp;
And that is the final gap: Nepal’s limited expertise and equipment for search and rescue inside collapsed concrete structures. Kathmandu’s high-rises need to be better prepared for the next Big One.
“Structural safety and design were at the front and the centre after the 2015 earthquake, we also revised some building codes but we are back to square one with contractor-driven construction, especially in peri-urban areas,” says Sangeeta Singh, who is also with the National Planning Commission. “We need to monitor construction as much as design.”&nbsp;
Shrestha at NSET agrees there have been improvements in building practices in the past nine years, but adds, “We have both learnt and unlearnt lessons from 2015. The awareness hasn’t yet translated into action on safety.”
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lessons-not-learned-from-2015-o2etq6zu">Lessons not learned from 2015</a>, Sonia Awale

The rise of high-rises

Midway along the stretch of the ancient trade route between Tibet and India lies the Kel Tol neighbourhood. The name is derived from the original Koligrām, and it is believed the Koli people, who were originally from Rāmagrām in present-day southern Nepal near the Indian border, settled here. The Koli were the maternal ancestors of none other than the Buddha. Kel Tol is famous for the Buddhist monastic complex of Kanak Chaitya Mahāvihar, featuring the majestic two-tiered gilded temple of the white god Karunāmaya.&nbsp; This elaborately decorated courtyard is a bustling centre of the Vajrayāna sect of Buddhism, practised widely by the indigenous Newā people of Kathmandu Valley. Karunāmaya, also known as Ārya Avalokiteshwor, is defined in great detail in the 1st century CE Buddhist text Sadharmapundarikā where he liberates all sentient beings from suffering. He helps rid the eight external fears metaphorically equated with their equivalent internal states of mind: lions (pride), wild elephants (ignorance), fire (anger), snakes (jealousy), floods (attachment), imprisonment (miserliness), thieves (wrong views) and cannibals (doubt).  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_fe370cbee75003cd3eb5dccc7c3b2671630da193b0744db2aeac1bab3ff4a85c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240418130432_fe370cbee75003cd3eb5dccc7c3b2671630da193b0744db2aeac1bab3ff4a85c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1338" height="2000" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  In the Pancha Rakshyā Sutra, a Buddhist scripture from 200 CE, Ārya Avalokiteshwor was counted among the eight major deities. Followers of the Brāhminical god Shiva worship Ārya Avalokiteshwor as Seto Machhindranāth. For Shaivites, Machhindranāth is the Indian saint who founded the Nāth cult in the 10th century CE. He is the guru of saint Gorakhnāth. During the reign of Yakshya Malla (1428–1482 CE), a beautiful image of Ārya Avalokiteshwor was dug up by a farmer in present-day Jamal, which was then a cultivated area outside the city. The farmer, known as a Jamami (meaning the one from Jamal) took the image home for safekeeping. That night, Ārya Avalokiteshwor appeared in the farmer’s dream and told him that the proper place for him to reside is at the confluence of two rivers. The nearest confluence was at present-day Wongha (Indrachok) and the image was installed in the Kanak Chaitya Mahāvihar complex in Kel Tol near Wongha. This made it easier for city residents to pay homage to Ārya Avalokiteshwor and spread compassion. Soon, the deity came to be revered highly as Jamaleshwor, the one found in Jamal. Eventually, the name got corrupted, as happens often in Nepāl Bhāsā, to Janabahā Dyo. The courtyard where his temple is located is now popularly known as Janabahā.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_5c9b219530e400445ef4e7f64856b43e7cdb756be26d9ed4565c84044c178a7e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240418130432_5c9b219530e400445ef4e7f64856b43e7cdb756be26d9ed4565c84044c178a7e" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1668" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  The gilded temple of Janabahā Dyo, first built in the early 16th century CE, is adorned with wooden and metal artefacts that symbolise 108 forms of Ārya Avalokiteshwor. It stands out as the most decorated temple of its kind in Kathmandu. Today, Janabahā is a living heritage site where many ancient customs and rituals are widely practised as per Vajrayāna Buddhist tradition. Devotees throng the Janabahā Dyo shrine for daily worship and to receive Karunāmaya’s blessings. Being the compassionate one, Ārya Avalokiteshwor goes around town every year in his tall wooden chariot to allow sick and physically disabled devotees to pay homage to him from the comfort of their homes. One could say it is a door-to-door visit by the Compassionate One.&nbsp; For the pragmatic minded, the chariot festival is an annual renewal of communal harmony, validation of our ancient mathematical supremacy and demonstration of the need to keep practical skills alive, including the craft of building earthquake resilient houses.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_fc8b234ceca87dee4b99e897a485cef121fb953857fb61492a413fbfcc48360c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240418130432_fc8b234ceca87dee4b99e897a485cef121fb953857fb61492a413fbfcc48360c" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1667" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  The Janabahā Dyo chariot is pulled from Jamal, where his image was found by the farmer, through the historic heart of Kathmandu in a gala parade every year. The procession, accompanied by folk music ensembles and revellers, starts on the eighth day of the bright half of the month of Chaitra, and lasts up to a week (ending on Saturday this year). Hundreds of devotees pull the chariot along the streets as a way of expressing their gratitude to lord Karunāmaya for blessing them with compassion and well-being. Purna Ratna Vajrāchārya is an ordained priest who belongs to the clan responsible for taking care of Janabahā Dyo. He has been studying the design and architecture of the chariot for the past 40 years, and overseeing its construction for the past 15. He has learnt that the engineering principles of building the chariot are based on the mathematical system in which Buddhism is taught. For example, 365 pieces of wood are used in the chariot, each representing a day of the year. Each of the four wheels consist of 25 pieces of wood, totalling 100, representing completeness or fulfilment. The chariot is vertically divided into 13 sections, a parallel to the Buddhist concept of Trayodashi Bhuvana that describes the 13 steps that one must take to achieve the state of Nirvana.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_36d9964c9845f6d9a074786361fc5ab7d49138503ad162086998b731349b0ec0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240418130432_36d9964c9845f6d9a074786361fc5ab7d49138503ad162086998b731349b0ec0" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1668" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_2662753a9514a682ccdfd17bf05e2be3771183a68dc86b717ab67d9aad894563.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240418130432_2662753a9514a682ccdfd17bf05e2be3771183a68dc86b717ab67d9aad894563" data-rendition-name="original" width="1668" height="2500" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  &nbsp;Exactly nine types of wood are used, which is the sum of the four base elements that make up the universe (earth, water, fire and air) and the five human senses. The height and length of the chariot is 32 arm’s length (hāt in Sanskrit), 14.8m. The number 32 represents the maximum number of auspicious and physical qualities one could possess to be considered an outstanding human being.&nbsp; Says Vajrācharya, “Observing how the chariot is built helps one learn the fundamental pillars of the Buddha’s teachings, and find an easier path to Nirvana.” The structural design of the nearly 15m wooden chariot is not only awe-inspiring but also gravity-defying. It leverages the pliancy of the materials used in its construction -- flexible joints tied with cane soaked in water for several days. The precise proportions of the chariot ensure great manoeuverability in the narrow streets along the route of the chariot procession that include some 90° bends, without colliding into houses.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_9f5c2943f5d6b3f0010d3d5213697549945e87a6f7d3d8cbadd69f0dea6c6e2c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240418130432_9f5c2943f5d6b3f0010d3d5213697549945e87a6f7d3d8cbadd69f0dea6c6e2c" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="3750" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  Driving and steering the chariot with brute muscle power of the mirthful crowd is a seemingly impossible task. But this has been achieved year after year, despite the fact that the devotees who tug wildly at the ropes lassoed to the two front wheels, are most likely in high-spirits (pun intended). Sanjay Manandhar, a US-based technology entrepreneur, recounts how his high school physics teacher from Canada asked his students to go observe the locals build the chariots of Karunāmaya if they were interested in becoming engineers in the future.&nbsp; “That made no sense to me then, but, after all these decades, I now see clearly how the structural design of the chariot, adopted early on by our ancestors is full of earthquake-resilient properties that need to be applied in building houses in an earthquake-prone zone like Nepal,” says Manandhar. A highlight of the chariot festival is that human goddess Kumari makes an appearance at the final destination in Lagan, usually on the third day. This is only one of the 13 times that people get to see the Kumari outside her temple abode.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_08aa39f3f004a212b33c60a2840d6013110de15dd34a0288f699dd5fda8957ab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20240418130432_08aa39f3f004a212b33c60a2840d6013110de15dd34a0288f699dd5fda8957ab" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1667" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  On the last day of the festival (Saturday), the image of lord Karunāmaya is carried on a palanquin by priests from Janabahā in a gala procession and brought back to his permanent residence at the temple in Kel Tol.&nbsp; The chariot festival is thought to have started during the reign of King Pratap Malla of Kantipur in the 17th century CE. For close to four centuries, the construction of the chariot and its operation has proven to be a phenomenal engineering feat, and the people’s faith in divinity means the tradition is alive.&nbsp; The essence of the colourful rituals and the religious beliefs of this ancient chariot festival is now all but lost. The logic, technology and practicality must be brought back to light, as they reflect the high civilisation and wisdom of our ancestors that we can leverage in modern times and into the future. &nbsp; Alok Tuladhar is a culture and heritage documentarian.

Kathmandu’s gravity-defying chariot festival

In the run-up to the third Nepal Investment Summit this weekend, there have been seminars, conferences and workshops where the discourse has revolved around the economy and the investment climate.
The consensus that Nepal needs foreign direct investments (FDI) to grow was repeated, and the familiar litany of reasons about why it has not been able to was discussed.&nbsp;
Policy advocates and regulators have understood that the lack of urgency is compounded by procedural inconsistencies, on top of the already deficient investment environment in the country.
It is a welcome change from what used to be flippantly accepting matters as given. There now seems to be a sense of urgency, with procedural inconsistencies and lack of harmonisation between various Acts and regulations openly discussed.&nbsp;
Government stakeholders also appear more willing to learn and attempt to be part of the solution. Whatever policy changes have been introduced in the past have been piecemeal and address the few rather than the entire industry. This left dual regulatory approaches aimed at similar players.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/killing-investment-in-nepal-in-10-easy-steps">Killing investment in Nepal in 10 easy steps</a>, Dibesh Karmacharya
This time, unlike in the past two Summits, the government seems to be committed to amending 9 Acts, a positive step towards showing commitment to change. However, the deadline to do so during the winter session of Parliament is over. The option mooted has been to have it passed through ordinance, a lesser appealing step; albeit, a positive one moving forward.&nbsp;
To attract FDI in a competitive global market means that Nepal has to demonstrate that it is serious about bringing in investments with a more consultative and collaborative approach with investors. A departure from procedural to a result-oriented focus is needed.&nbsp;
To put issues in perspective, Nepal needs US$20 billion in investments to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets by 2030. If net-zero decarbonisation targets are to be met by 2045, another US$7 billion will be required annually.&nbsp;
Looking at our investment history and poor government capital expenditure, the gap is long and wide. In fiscal year 2022-23 Nepal booked a lamentable ~$59 million in FDI (equity). Nepal is in fact the lowest market in South Asia for FDI with 0.3% of the regional average.&nbsp;
What is it that we can do to fill the gap?&nbsp;
First, we need to move away from the notion that Nepal only needs large investments. This has proven to be a mistake, and time series data have proven that smaller investments, in aggregate, make a larger impact on economies.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/poor-cash-rich-nepal">Poor cash-rich Nepal</a>, Sonia Awale
We talk about an ‘enabling environment’ but without the right tools. We place restrictions on interest on debt ceiling (SOFR +5.5), without risk premium adjustments, we do not have an active secondary market for bond trading, nor do we have a yield curve, an integral part of the bond market, which is inhibiting us from tapping into the trillion dollar green bond market.&nbsp;
In order to attract green financing, Nepal needs to develop its bond market. Sovereign risk rating has been mooted and was expected to be operationalised before the Investment Summit.&nbsp;
However, to be rated in an adverse economic environment could further deteriorate investment potential due to a lesser-than-expected rating.&nbsp;
Hedging is another instrument that needs further research on. A commercial bank last year showcased the first risk-hedging mechanism for an investment of $8 million. This can be the beginning to expand on its modality. &nbsp;
Subordinated debt instruments have been introduced, but on a special nod basis, this now needs to be institutionalised as it is the most applicable form of investment after equity in a market that has volatile forex reserves.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/invest-in-investment">Invest in investment</a>, Nepali Times
Viability Gap Funding has been introduced by multilateral development agencies implemented in solar installations. It is a tool to incentivise the private sector to invest in projects that are not financially lucrative initially, but have potential for profitability in the long run. This needs to be scaled up and replicated in sectors like infrastructure, where returns may not be immediate.
Moving forward, to attract FDI, Nepal needs to tap into the funds that are available for the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and climate change. Alternative investments such as Private Equity Venture Capital (PEVC) have been around in a structured manner in Nepal for nearly a decade now.
These funds have blended finance components and have attracted climate funding as well. PEVC is a new asset class and can address the issues of penetrating into SME financing by incorporating environment, social and governance issues into their investment process.&nbsp;
SMEs are the backbone of any economy, PEVC comes with the ability not only to scale up the enterprise with risk capital, but with the ability to bring technical knowhow to enhance not only the enterprise but also the entrepreneur.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/success-in-nepal-means-not-having-to-work">Success in Nepal means not having to work</a>, Anil Chitrakar
A differentiator from all other forms of financing available till date in Nepal. Blended finance is a way of de-risking investments, especially in frontier markets. Business Oxygen (BO2) is an example of blended finance with subordinated debt investments of IFC (World Bank Group) taking the lead and Climate Investment Funds along with FCDO as co-investors.&nbsp;
On a larger scale, the 216MW Upper Trisuli 1 is another example of blended finance with IFC, a Korean consortium and local investments. So far, we see that development finance Institutions have been taking the lead in Nepal as their risk appetite is greater than commercial investors and they are eager to help develop the financial markets.&nbsp;
In order to be sustainable, we need to step on this and attract commercial capital from all over the world. To do this there has to be political will to make that pivot.&nbsp;
Instead of being a means to an end, the two previous Investment Summits turned out to be intermittent and cosmetic, providing hardly any results. The third one’s success will depend on how the event will be implemented as a platform for continuous marketing for the country and facilitation for investors in future.&nbsp;
Nepal has outdone many countries in its macro-economic indicators, with sound forex reserves and a stellar history of debt payments to its creditors. This story needs to be propagated along with the drive for change to attract potential investors.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/alternative-investments-to-attract-fdi">Alternative investments to attract FDI</a>, Siddhant Raj Pandey

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