Upper Karnali hydro project advances as GMR submits financial closure details

The 900-megawatt Upper Karnali Hydropower Project has made progress toward implementation after the project developer submitted its financial closure paperwork to Investment Board Nepal. India's Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao Group handed over the official documents on 15 January 2025, stating that the required funding for the venture was fully arranged. An expert committee was established by the board to review the details presented in the financial report. According to a senior official at the Investment Board Office, the Project Development Agreement for the scheme does not directly specify that the board must give formal approval for financial closure. However, as the governing body chose to assist in moving the process forward, the developer must now complete all construction activities for the plant within five years. The development follows legal action concerning the scheme's execution timeline. On 24 December 2024, Dan Bahadur Budha, an advocate and proprietor of Budhasubba Legal Research, lodged a writ petition at the Supreme Court. The petition asserted that the Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao Group had failed to secure financial closure within the two-year timeframe originally outlined in the signed Project Development Agreement.