Kathmandu, April 19 -- The construction of a section of the 400 kV Tamakoshi-Kathmandu Transmission Line has been delayed by a year due to a change of contractor, project officials said.

The Nepal Electricity Authority had originally awarded the contract to build the 44-km stretch from New Khimti to Barhabise to a Chinese firm, but ended the agreement last December for slow progress. On Monday, the state-owned power utility gave the contract to install the overhead power line to an Indian company, KEC International. It has told KEC International to sign the contract and submit the performance guarantee within 28 days.

Highly placed sources at the Nepal Electricity Authority say that although the power line project has been delayed, the ...