UP to invest in seven Tehri hydro power projects

Lucknow, Sep 26 (UNI) Uttar Pradesh government, in order to raise power avalibility in the state, has decided to invest in the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation(THDC) for the early implementation of the projects.

The state government will invest Rs 412 crore as share capital in an expansion project, where seven new hydro electric plants at Rs 5,497 crore are to be set up by the central public sector unit.

The seven new schemes under the expansion project are Vishnugaad-Pipalkoti - 440 Mw, Karmauli - 140 Mw, Jaad Ganga - 50 Mw, Guhanataal - 60 Mw, Malari Jhelum - 55 Mw, Jhelum Tamak - 60 Mw and Bokang Beling - 330 Mw hydro-power units.

State power department sources here said the total generation in seven new units will be 1,135 Mw and UP's share will be 424.14 Mw. Thus by sharing a mere 7.5 per cent of the cost of the expansion project, UP will get 37.37 per cent of the total power generated.

Sources said power tariff will range between Rs 1.05 per unit to Rs 2.46 per unit, which is far cheaper than the thermal power purchased from the NTPC by the state at a maximum of Rs 6 per unit in peak hours.

Of the total power generation in the expansion project, Uttaranchal will get 12 per cent free power as the plant is located in the hill state, while the rest 88 per cent will be divided between UP and the Centre on a 25:75 basis.

The total cost of the seven schemes is Rs 5,497 crore. Of this, 30 per cent will come from the share capital and rest 70 per cent from the FIs. UP will have to bear only 25 per cent of the 30 per cent share capital and the state will have no liability on the borrowings by the THDC from the FIs for arranging rest of the 70 per cent funds for the project. Thus the share of UP will be Rs 412.25 crore.

The Uttaranchal government has approved the seven schemes under THDC expansion project, while the nod from the Centre is expected very soon.

The first stage of the THDC 1,000 Mw unit has been completed and is in the stage of commissioning. The work on the 1,000 Mw Tehri pump storage plant is also progressing. Work on the 400 Mw Koteshwar project is also in an advanced stage and is slated to be completed by the end of the year 2008.

UP government has released the money for share capital for Tehri Stage-I and Koteshwar project while the share capital for the Tehri Pump storage plant is to be released in current fiscal 06-07 and 2007-08.

''We need to enhance the total availability of power at affordable cost from all possible sources and we cannot remain dependent on the NTPC,'' said Principal Secretary (Energy) Ashok Khurana.

He said the present generation capacity of UP is mere 3,877 Mw while the demand in next five years is expected to shoot beyond 12,000 Mw. '' we need to increase our participation in THDC for increasing overall availability of power at affordable cost'', he added.

UNI MB NAB KR VC1222