By Pragati Shahi

The Indian government has said the UCPN (Maoist) threat to stop work on the 300-MW Upper Karnali Hydropower Project (UKHEP) will have adverse impacts on Indian investment in Nepal . A senior official at the Indian Embassy said such a scenario will have negative impact on Nepal 's economic development “at a time when Indian investors are eagerly waiting for the successful implementation of the peace process to invest in Nepal . The Maoists on Saturday issued a letter to the GMR ITD Consortium, an Indian company, to stop work on the Karnali project “as per its central committee decision.” The Maoist party also asked the GMR to leave the country. The party has said its decision to halt UKHEP construction is part of its ongoing national sovereignty campaign. Two years ago, Nepal had awarded the project to GMR through international bidding. The civil works of the project will start from 2011 and the construction is expected to be completed in six years. Meanwhile, Harvinder Manocha, vice-president of GMR IT Consortium, who is visiting Nepal , urged the Maoists to “keep Upper Karnali out of politics.” “The project is completely based on business priorities and it is not a political issue. If they (Maoists) have conflict with our government, they should talk with Indian embassy officials,” said he. The company, according to Manocha, has already completed around 78 to 80 percent work on the detailed project report and is holding talks with other financial institutions for investment. “We'll lose the trust of financial institutions who are keen to provide loans.” Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy (MoE), issuing a statement on Friday, has come out strongly against the Maoists, saying any disturbance on the project site will not only hamper the project's development, but also discourage investors. The statement added that the government is serious about providing security for investment in this sector. It has urged authorities concerned not to be discouraged with “these kinds of protest activities.”