By Gurkha Insight • Nepal Now • Aug 26, 2025 19:18 PM • 8 views
The Nepalese government has intensified its efforts to collect outstanding royalties from hydropower projects, successfully collecting over Rs 3.15 billion. The majority of this amount is collected by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) by deducting the royalty from payments to power developers.
The government, through the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and the Electricity Development Department, has collected over Rs 3.15 billion in royalties from operational hydropower projects. The NEA, as a routine practice, collects the royalty by deducting it from the payments it makes to the power developers for the electricity they provide. In a move to address persistent non-payment, the Electricity Development Department is actively pursuing hydropower developers who have not cleared their dues for the fiscal year 2079/080 BS. Director General Chiranjivi Chataut stated that projects that fail to comply will face repercussions, with the department writing to the NEA to recover the outstanding amount from their payments. The collected royalty is earmarked for distribution to local communities affected by the hydropower projects. In the previous fiscal year (2079/080), the department's total revenue exceeded Rs 4.31 billion, which included Rs 1.15 billion from license fees, Rs 8.7 million from penalties, and Rs 4.2 million from arrears. For the first six months of the current fiscal year, the department has collected Rs 595.5 million in royalty and Rs 162.4 million from licensing fees.
