Govt to incentivise hydel power projects in rural areas

New Delhi, Dec 28 (UNI) The government will provide incentives to companies which will set up hydel power projects in remote areas such as Arunachal Pradesh.

''There are huge prospects in the hydro power projects, as at present only 28 per cent of the potential is being utilised.

The government is thinking over providing incentives to those who will explore opprtunities in such states to further the public-private -partnership modal. A paper will also be placed before cabinet for discussion,'' Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said.

The government today issued Letters of Intents (LoIs) to Lanco Infratech Ltd and Globeleq Singapore Pte Ltd for Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) in Madhya Pradesh and Tata Power Company Ltd for Mundra project in Gujarat.

Mr Shinde said the the Request For Proposal (RFP) documents for the Krishnapatnam ultra mega power project have been issued.

''We have again received a good response for this project. The documents will be scrutinised on March 9 next year and the selection of bidder will be done by April 2007,'' the minister said.

Likewise, the selection of Tilaya project in Jharkhand will be completed by July 2006.

The nine UMPPs, each with a capacity of about 4000 MW, would also have scope for further expansion. These UMPPs will add about 36,000 MW within a span of six to eight years and help in achievement of the targets for faster capacity addition.

UNI CS SRS HT1925