DPR of Kalpasar project to be ready by end of December

The minister said the project is a complex one and is being built in Gulf of Khambhat where the tidal variations are high. “The government had begun the preliminary studies in 2003 and most of the studies have been completed by 2021, Chaudhari said.

The government said that the studies conducted about the project have been submitted to Ministry of Earth Sciences which is preparing the DPR for the project.

“We expect the DPR to be submitted by December 2022. The project will entail an estimated cost of Rs 1.1 lakh crore and will store 8000 million cubic feet of water and irrigate 10,000 hectares,” said water resources minister Rushikesh Patel in reply to supplementary questions from Opposition MLAs.

The Congress MLAs sought to know when the government plans to conduct foundation stone laying ceremony of the project that was conceived during Keshubhai Patel’s tenure as the chief minister and has remained restricted to government files.

“Once the DPR is prepared, the foundation stone laying ceremony can happen,” Patel said.

The minister said that according to National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), Chennai, the Kalpasar dam will cost Rs 47,000 crore, irrigation network to cost Rs 30,000 crore, spillway to cost Rs 18,000 crore and Rs 15,000 crore for wind and solar power installations.

“After the DPR comes, we will have to take permissions from Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Economic Affairs,” Rushikesh Patel added.