June 18: The Independent Power Producers Association, Nepal (IPPAN), an umbrella organization representing private developers and owners of power producers in Nepal, has unanimously elected a new 25-member executive committee with Ganesh Karki as the President and Mohan Dangi as the Senior Vice President.

Karki assumed the presidency after the candidacy of another contender, Kiran Malla, was deemed ineligible for not meeting the qualifications outlined in the election guidelines.

Similarly, Mohan Kumar Dangi was elected as the Senior Vice President. Surya Prasad Adhikari had also submitted his nomination for the position, but the election committee rejected his candidacy due to lack of qualifications, ultimately leading to Dangi's election as the Senior Vice President.

Likewise, five Vice Presidents have been elected unopposed. Although seven candidates filed nominations for the five Vice President positions, the election committee disqualified two candidates, resulting in the unopposed election of Ashish Garg, Bharat Kumar Khatri, Uttam Blon Lama, Ram Prasad Acharya, and Ananda Chaudhary as Vice Presidents.

Balaram Khatiwada was elected unopposed as the General Secretary, while two candidates had initially filed nominations for the position. Prakash Chandra Dulal was already elected unopposed as the Deputy General Secretary, being the sole contender for the post.

For the five Secretary positions, six nominations were received, and one person was elected unopposed. Bharat Prasad Nepal, Bharat Kumar Khadka, Kabita Pokharel, Bikram Bista, and Him Prasad Pathak have been elected as secretaries.

The election committee determined that Narayan Kandel, who had filed a nomination for the Secretary position, did not meet the qualifications.

Narendra Ballabh Panta has been elected as the Treasurer. Among the three women members, Isha Shrestha, Susan Karmacharya, and Suman Joshi have been elected unopposed.

Meanwhile, the group led by Kiran Mall, which was declared ineligible to compete for the chairmanship, has announced the establishment of the Green Energy Power Association, Nepal (GEPAN).

Mall's group alleges that IPPAN overstepped its jurisdiction and attempted to take control of the organization. In response, the dissatisfied group formed GEPAN under the coordination of energy researcher Surya Prasad Adhikari.