The binational cooperation aims to improve regional energy security and boost economic development through sustainable hydropower generation in the Arun River basin, authorities from the two countries confirmed.

The project, which includes the nearly 12-kilometer-long tunnel, has a 217-kilometer long transmission line, according to Sushil Sharma, chairman and managing director of Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam SJVN, a company under the administration of the Indian government.

Before Nepal’s Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Indian Ambassador to Kathmandu Naveen Srivastava and other functionaries, the Indian businessman assured the head of government that the successful progress of the tunnel marks an important milestone in the construction of the 900 megawatt Arun-3 hydropower project.

He added that its completion enables progress towards the objective of harnessing the hydropower potential of the Arun River.

Sharma informed that more than 74 percent of the project works have been completed, and the remaining works are progressing at full capacity.

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