15 Apr 2008

BS reported that, in a bid to tap the state’s vast water resources, Uttarakhand government is likely to invite open bids for nearly 30 to 50 hydropower projects by the end of April 2008. A government official said that all these projects are ranging between 5 MW and 25 MW and are situated all over the state. He added that “We are probably going for open bidding for all these projects.”

Investments estimated to be in the range of INR 3,000 to INR 5000 crore are proposed in these projects which would be built on various tributaries of Ganga and Yamuna rivers. This is the first major decision since early this year when the government had announced the new power policy while deciding to give preference to local entrepreneurs and gram panchayats to build micro and mini hydel projects with a slew of sops.

Besides gram panchayats and locals, societies registered in the state are also being given preference in the power generation program. The projects have been divided broadly into 3 categories namely micro, mini and small. Projects with capacity up to 100 KW will be categorized as micro, mini will comprise between 100 KW and 5 MW, while small projects will be in the range of 5 to 25 MW. Big projects, however, will have a capacity above 25 MW.

The state government has also made provision for self identified projects. In this category, developers may identify projects, prepare the detailed project report and ask for allotment. In the other category, the state government or state sponsored agencies may identify the projects of any size, prepare the report and allot them. However, small projects would be open to all and there would be no reservations. For this, premium would be decided as and when they are allotted depending upon the capacity of the project.

News Source: http://steelguru.com