PM Shah pledges coordination to tackle energy sector issues

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Balendra Shah said that energy is the principal foundation of economic transformation, creating jobs and driving industrialisation and green development.

Meeting officials from the Independent Power Producers' Association, Nepal (IPPAN) at his office in Singh Durbar, the prime minister praised the sector’s role in promoting Nepal’s export trade and said the government was taking the sector’s problems, opportunities and challenges seriously.

PM Shah assured IPPAN officials that he would work to ensure smooth coordination among stakeholders, including the line ministry and the Nepal Electricity Authority, to resolve issues affecting the energy sector.

The Prime Minister’s Secretariat said the discussion covered energy development, private sector investment in power generation, and the promotion of entrepreneurship and industry, together with wider issues affecting the national economy.

Other matters raised included power purchase agreements and PPA facilitation, the re‑launch of pending projects, problems with transmission lines and grid access, simplification of procedures for acquiring land in forest areas, facilitation for permit renewals, and greater private‑sector involvement in power trading.

Participants also discussed how to make the security and energy sectors more investment‑friendly.

The IPPAN delegation led by Senior Vice President Uttam Bhlon Lama was joined by his chief adviser Kumar Byanjankar, the chief secretary and his private secretary.  

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