BIG THREE, MADESH MORCHA MEET BEGINS Kathmandu, 30 Oct. Leaders if the Big Three and Madeshi Morcha in government began a meeting Tuesday morning to discuss an outlet to the continuing political and constitutional deadlock. The meeting comes a day after Maoist Chairman Prachanda said his party may change a party stance for reinstatement of a constituent assembly (CA) if demabded by other parties. “There can be an agreement of election if all parties agree,” the Maoist boss said But Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, who is also UCPN Maoist vice-chairman,insisted he’ll lead a government of national consensus as opposition insisted demands for his resignation are non-negotiable. The party supports the beleaguered premier. nnnn LONG POWER CUTS WITH WINTER BEGINNING Kathmandu, 30 Oct.:- Independent power producers (IPPs) have produced just 170MW of power so far although they hold 11,645MW of survey licence, which is 90 percent of the total number of licences distributed. Similarly, the private sector has filed construction licence applications for only 684MW (5.87 percent), the Department of Electricity Department’s (DoED) statistics show.Apart from a few genuine private sector players, the tendency of most of the developers to hold licence without, The Kathmandu Post reports developing projects has earned them a bad reputation. A senior official at the Nepal Electricity Authority ( NEA ) has questioned the private sector’s commitment n to the hydropower sector. “This has raised doubt over authencity of those holding licences,” said the official. The NEA has 72 percent contribution to the total power generated so far, while independent power producers and NEA subsidiaries have contributions of 24 percent and 4 percent respectively. However, the IPPs, relatively new in the field, blame lack of financing as major constraints. While domestic financial institutions are increasingly getting involved in hydropower projects, they still do not have adequate resources to finance medium- and large-scale projects, they said. Nepali commercial banks have the collective capacity to finance projects with about 150MW only. The IPPs have also been hit due to the absence of project financing and long-term loans from the banks. Subarna Das Shrestha, president of Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal (IPPAN), however, blamed the government for the private sector’s failure to develop power projects as required. “The government didn’t allow the private sector to come into the hydropower sector for long,” he said. “The government openly welcomes the private sector in hydro power development now, but they have not been facilitated properly.” Shrestha also pointed out the decade-long conflict, lack of financing and absence of infrastructure as major stumbling blocks. According to IPPAN, the IPPs are building 23 projects with a combined capacity of 2,300 MW. Shrestha also explained that out of the total survey licence holders, only feasible projects go for the generation licence. “Survey licence holders do not go for construction until the project is technically, economically and environmentally viable,” added Shrestha. According to the DoED, it has issued survey licences for 12,874 MW out of which the NEA has been surveying projects of 1,078 MW. While the projects based on the public-private partnership (PPP) model have received survey licences for 102 MW. Ram Chandra Pandey, general manager of the NEA ’s Generation Construction Division, said that as most of the IPPs do not have technical expertise and financial resources to develop hydro projects, they are lagging behind in developing the projects. The demand for energy has gone up by 250 MW in the last three years. The NEA projects the maximum energy demand at 1,100 MW for this winter, while the production remains at 261 MW. The projects currently operating have a total installed capacity of 713 MW. Apart from Kulekhani Hydel Project, all the other projects are run of the river (RoR) type, which means the energy generation during the winter drops down by 65 percent. Unless the government implements a load-shedding reduction plan, the NEA estimates the country will see load-shedding for 19 hours a day. nnnn INDIA BUILDS POND ENCROACHING NEPALI LAND Kathmandu, 30 Oct.: India has encroached land of four Nepali farmer at Sukhani VDc and constructed a pond, Dilip Singh writes in Naya Patrika from Siraha. The pond has been constructed 15 feet across no man’s land by residents of Bihar’s Madhubani district. nnnn