Govt to add 18,000MW hydel power in Eleventh Plan

New Delhi, Jan 4: The government is planning to double the hydel power capacity addition to 18,000 megawatt (MW) in the Eleventh Plan period at an estimated cost of Rs 90,000 crore.

''The share of hydel power during the Eleventh Plan period will be around 18,000 MW, as against 9,500 MW during the Tenth Plan,'' Power Secretary R V Shahi told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar here.

The total targeted hydel capacity at the end of the Plan is 54,000 MW as compared to 36,000 MW at the end of Tenth Plan.

The overall targeted power to be added in the Eleventh Plan ending 2012 is over 65,000 MW, almost double of the Tenth Plan target.

Earlier addressing the seminar on 'Hydro Power: Harnessing the Untaped Potential', Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said, ''The government is according high priority to development of hydro projects in the country including simplifying the clearnce procedures, allowing duty free imports of capital equipments and liberal tax holidays.'' The preparation of detailed project reports (DPRs) for 77 hydroelectric schemes of 34,000 MW capacity, having tariff below Rs 2.50 per unit have also been taken up, he said.

These projects are expected to yeild benefits during the Eleventh and Twelfth Plans.

The hydroelectric schemes are mainly concentrated in Arunachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Sikkim.

India, as per a study conducted by Central Electricity Authority (CEA), has potential of nearly 1,50,000 MW hydropower, while the installed capacity is just over 33,000 MW, about 22 per cent of the potential. This hydel potential as compared to Norway (58 per cent) and Canada (41 per cent) is nominal.

The Ministry of Power is already working on a draft policy framework for development of hydropower.

UNI