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In the past, Drucker Green Power Corporation (DGPC) had mooted the idea of setting up a hydropower construction company, but it failed to materialize.
However, DGPC Managing Director Dasho Chhewang Rinzin said that setting up a hydropower construction company is not currently the company’s main mission, although it is in line with the overall mission of developing human resources for hydropower projects.
“The main task is to maintain and operate the existing hydropower projects and considering the opportunities in the construction business, the Bhutan government may develop 10,000 MW of hydropower projects with the assistance of the Indian government and take the responsibility of developing new hydropower projects by 2020,” he said.
Since Bhutanese companies are not involved in major construction activities other than infrastructure projects, the idea of setting up a hydropower construction company aroused the interest of Bhutanese contractors to participate in the construction of major projects.
DGPC believes it can help Bhutan develop a hydropower construction company that can undertake part of the construction activities.
“Ltd. companies are constructing hydropower projects there. As the projects increase, the resources of Ltd. companies that have the capacity to construct hydropower projects are becoming stretched,” said the DGPC managing director.
“As a result, companies in India that are capable of building hydropower projects are also facing constraints in human resources and equipment,” he added.
Initially, the purpose of DGPC was to ensure that capabilities were acquired by companies other than Indian limited companies, and the Bhutanese private sector was also interested.
The public-private partnership was proposed as the private sector in Bhutan requested cooperation in forming the company.
But this initiative failed as the private sector in Bhutan wanted the government to allow them to directly participate in the construction of hydropower projects.
“Private construction companies did not want to participate in the bidding and although they formed the consortium, it did not meet the criteria,” the general manager said. “Even if they form a consortium, they may not be able to undertake large-scale projects such as dams, tunnels and power stations.”
“The Indian government says today’s large hydropower construction companies started small, gained experience and grew,” he said. He added that he advised the private sector in Bhutan to do the same.
Therefore, the private sector is currently advised not to enter directly into the construction sector. However, the government has made a huge concession that all infrastructure works such as roads, bridges, buildings and other major works required for hydropower projects will be done by private companies.
“There are many opportunities for the Bhutanese private sector under these infrastructure projects,” said the DGPC managing director.
Taking this into account, at least for now, DGPC has not really entertained the idea of setting up a hydropower construction company.
At the same time, they are working on joint venture projects such as Kholongchhu, Chamkhar Wangchhu and Bunakha with a capacity of over 2,000 MW.
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