KATHMANDU: The Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal (IPPAN) has withdrawn its protest following the government’s decision to scrap the ‘Take-and-Pay’ Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) provision through the national budget for fiscal year 2025/26.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel announced the removal of the ‘Take-and-Pay’ provision in the House of Representatives on June 24. Following this, IPPAN formally announced the suspension of its protest during a press conference held on Thursday.

Earlier, the government had introduced a policy through the budget on May 29 to apply the ‘Take-and-Pay’ model for run-of-the-river hydropower projects, prompting IPPAN to launch a protest campaign.

According to IPPAN, this provision had put at risk hydropower projects with a combined capacity of 17,117 megawatts that were under various stages of development.

The organization also warned that private sector investments totaling Rs 109 billion in hydropower were at risk of being lost.

In opposition to the ‘Take-and-Pay’ policy, IPPAN had engaged in continuous lobbying—meeting with the Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Energy Minister, senior leaders of political parties, and lawmakers.

It also submitted memorandums and ran a widespread “No Take-and-Pay” campaign on social media.

IPPAN stated that through SMS, online posts, and direct dialogue, it was able to build significant pressure and achieve a major win through the first phase of its peaceful protest movement.