Tiwari packs hydel punch for Uttaranchal

In a bid to make Uttaranchal the ‘‘power capital’’ of the country, the state has chalked out an ambitious programme to privatise 60 newly-identified hydel projects and has also entered into a MoU with the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for the construction of two major hydro-electric plants.

NTPC Chief Managing Director C.P. Jain and Uttaranchal Power Secretary O.P. Arya signed the agreement on Wednesday regarding the construction of the 520 MW Lohari Nagpala project, 60 km from Uttarkashi on river Bhagirathi, and the 360 MW Tapovan Vishnugad project on river Alaknanda in Chamoli district. On the occasion Chief Minister N.D. Tiwari said plans are afoot to tap 10,000 MW of power from the hill state in the next five years. He said the state has already formulated a privatisation policy for the sector to woo investors from India and abroad.

Forty-seven small projects with a capacity of up to 25 MW and 13 other projects with a capacity ranging from 25-100 MW have been earmarked for private developers in the state, which is going through a severe cash crunch.

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The 60 newly-identified projects, with a total installed capacity of 763 MW, include Bagoli and Singoli Bhatwari on river Ganga in Chamoli district with a capacity of 64 MW and 50 MW respectively.

According to a study, Uttaranchal has a hydel potential of 15,000 MW of which only 1,124 MW has been harnessed so far.