Two to five MW hydel projects reserved for Himachal

Shimla, Nov 24 (UNI) The Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to allot two to five MW hydel projects to bonafide Himachalis and co-operative societies only for optimum utilisation of its identified hydel potential, an official spokesman today said.

Small hydropower projects up to two MW would exclusively be allotted to bonafide Himachalis and co-operative societies, while projects between two to five MW would be allotted to bonafide Himachalis only, he said in a release here.

The spokesman said the State Cabinet had allotted 62 mini and micro hydel project, out of 195 projects for which applications were received between January 1, 2004 and June 2005.

Twenty-three of these projects have been allotted to bonafide Himachali firm, while two projects have been allotted to co-operative societies, he said.

He said memorandum of understanding have been signed for the execution of the projects which were located in Kullu, Chamba and Mandi districts with an installed capacity of 43.50 MW.

Observing that Himachal people were interested in executing small hydel projects, the spokesman said 11 small hydropower projects with a total capacity of 23.25 MW had already been commissioned.

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