Kathmandu. Energy entrepreneurs have come out on social media demanding the withdrawal of the ‘Take Ende Pay’ (Liu and Tir) provision in the purchase of electricity brought by the government in the budget.
Energy entrepreneurs have urged the Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Energy Minister and Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to withdraw the take-and-pay provision in ppa. Earlier on Friday, the promoters, who met Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and submitted a memorandum, on Saturday urged Prime Minister Oli, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel, Energy Minister Deepak Khadka and Nepal Electricity Authority Executive Director Hitendra Dev Shakya to withdraw the take-and-pay provision.
On the third day of the protest, energy entrepreneurs took to social media to protest against the provision of ‘abolish the private sector in energy, lead to load shedding, drown investors and finish the country’s economy’.
Energy entrepreneurs have been protesting against the power purchase agreement (PPA) of river flow-based (ROR) hydropower projects to be constructed by the private sector only as per the take-and-pay provisions in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year released on May 15.
Mohan Kumar Dangi, senior vice-president of Independent Energy Producers Association Nepal (IPPAN), an umbrella organization of energy producers and coordinator of ippan movement committee, said that a message was written on social media on the third day of the protest to put pressure on the government to withdraw take and pay.
Dangi, coordinator of the movement committee, said that if the government does not listen to the demands even after coming on social media, then the chief whips of the political parties representing the people in the House will be shocked and if the demands are not met, they will go on a road agitation in the second phase and in the third phase, the keys of the hydropower projects made by the private sector will be handed over to the government.
