"Hydropower for the progress of Nepal "

The 4th International Hydropower Convention on “ Hydro Power for Progress of Nepal” was organized by the India tech Foundation of India, together with the Independent Power Producers' Association, Nepal (IPPAN) and the Federation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI). The two day convention was held in the Hotel Soaltee Crowne Plaza , Kathmandu , from April 25-26 2009.

Inaugurated by Hon'ble Mr. Bishnu Paudel, minister for Water Resources, government of Nepal , about 200 power companies, investors, experts, bankers from India , Nepal , Norway , Australia , Korea , Germany and China participated in the two day summit.

The important personalities attending the meeting were: Hon'ble, Dr. Kirit Parikh, member (energy), planning commission, Mr. R.V. Shahi (former Secretary-Power), chairman, Energy Infratech Pvt.Ltd, Mr. A.V. Giri –MD, Moserbaer India Ltd. Mr. Jayant kawale, Joint secretary-Hydro, ministry of power , GoI, Mr. A.K. Bajaj, Chairman, and Mr. Shanker Koirala, secretary, ministry of water resources, GoN, Dr. Deependra Bahadur Kshatry, governor, Nepal Rastra Bank, Mr. Kishore Thapa, secretary, Water and Energy Commission Secretariat, GoN, Mr. Anup Kumar Upadhyaya, joint secretary, and spokesperson of the ministry of water resources, Mr. Sriranjan Lacoul, Director General of the department of electricity development, GoN, Mr. Uttar Kumar Shrestha, Managing Director, Nepal Electricity Authority , Mr. Michael Haney, World Bank's resident representative in Nepal and Dr. Sandip Shah, President , IPPAN.

The whole convention consisted of sessions like : Inaugural session, technical session I, II, III and IV.

The aim of this convention was to:
•  Present Nepal 's strategy & latest initiatives for harnessing hydropower resources – with a status update;
•  Showcase Nepal as a lucrative investment destination for renewable power projects;
•  Deliberate on Policies, Practices and Perceptions of Hydropower project Development;
•  Perform a reality check on the hydropower development process, power market issues and governments' expectations in light of making these developments feasible, and sustainable, and make suitable recommendations; and
•  Establish environmental and social management as an integral part of sustainable project development and for managing local expectations.

Various papers were presented on the themes: Hydropower Potential, New Policy Initiatives, Case Studies of Projects under Implementation, Social responsibility and Environmental management

The topics of the panel Discussion were: Open Access, Financial regulation and Grid Synchronization.