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Ankhu Khola

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Working page
Updated
2026-05-13

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Ankhu Khola Jalvidhyut Company Limited (AKJCL) is a 42.9 MW run-of-river hydropower project. Beyond its generation capacity, Ankhu Khola is a textbook example of the hydropower rights-share bailout pattern documented in Nepal's capital markets.

Summary

Ankhu Khola is a 42.9 MW under-construction run-of-river hydropower project used here as a capital-market case study. The page focuses on the project's rights-share issuance and debt-repayment pattern alongside its registry specifications.

The Bailout Pattern

Ankhu Khola's capital markets history exemplifies the structural dynamic where Nepal's retail equity investors absorb commercial bank debt:

  • 2013: IPO raised NPR 20 crore for construction funding
  • 2024: Rights issue of NPR 120 crore at a 1:1.5 ratio — a 150% dilution
  • Stated use of proceeds: explicitly to "pay off bank loans" and invest in a 20 MW downstream cascade (AKJCL-2)

The rights-share issuance came within roughly a decade of the initial IPO, with the stated purpose being debt clearance rather than new capital expenditure. This pattern — where public equity is deployed to prevent bank foreclosure — is not unique to Ankhu Khola but it is one of the most extreme examples in terms of dilution ratio (1:1.5).

Systemic Pattern

Ankhu Khola sits alongside other projects in the rights-share bailout inventory documented in Systemic Risk and Triple-Authority Research Compilation (2026):

Company IPO Cr Rights Cr Dilution Use
Ankhu Khola 20 120 150% Repay bank loans
Upper Tamakoshi 100 1,059 (1:1) 100% Retire legacy debt
Joshi Hydropower 24.1 15.6 (1:0.65) 65% Prevent NPL status
Peoples Power 31.6 15.8 (1:0.5) 50% Repay Prime Commercial Bank

The pattern is consistent: pre-COD or immediately post-COD IPOs, followed by rights issues within 2–10 years, with proceeds directed at debt servicing rather than capacity expansion.

See Also

Specifications

Parameter Value
Capacity 42.9 MW
Status Under construction
Registry licence Generation
River Ankhu Khola
District Nuwakot
Province Bagmati Pradesh

Limitations & Controversies

The page is strongest on the rights-share and debt-repayment pattern documented in Systemic Risk and Triple-Authority Research Compilation (2026). It does not independently verify construction progress, hydrology, final project cost, COD timing, or the downstream cascade investment beyond the existing source set.

Sources