French company Elicy Frontier has applied for permission to construct the 300-megawatt Upper Karnali Hydropower Project with a lucrative proposal that it would provide 30 percent share of the project to the state-run Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) free of cost, local Kantipur daily reported on Sunday.

The Singapore-based company is committed to the Fund for Peace program that works for humanitarian assistance.

The company and NEA formed a joint company named "Elicy-Nepal Electricity Authority Upper Karnali Hydroelectric Power Limited" five years ago, aimed at constructing the project.

The Elicy's application has been registered at the Department of Electricity Development after it paid needed revenues to the government.

"The company has carried out most of the jobs that are required before physical construction of the project," said Diwakar Raj Pandey, Nepal-based director of the company.

"We applied for license now given the changed political context here," he added.

The estimated cost of the project is 500 million U.S. dollars. Various international banks and financial institutions and organizations related to humanitarian assistance have also expressed written commitment for investing in the project, according to Pandey.

Source: Xinhua