L&T accepts U'khand govt's demands on hydel project

Infrastructure major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has accepted all the demands in its implementation agreement with the Uttarakhand government on the 99-Mw Singoli-Bhatwari hydel project in the hilly Rudraprayag district.

This is the first such agreement under the new policy guidelines issued by the state government. “We have accepted all the demands,” confirmed an L&T official.

Under the agreement signed recently, L&T agreed to provide 12 per cent power on the enhanced capacity of the project to the state on the rates prescribed by the Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission (UERC).

The work of the project was stopped in May this year after the government said it wanted additional power from the company for increasing the capacity of the project. The capacity of the project had been increased to 99 Mw from 60 Mw. Besides, the company would also provide 200 units of free power to all the villages falling under the 2 km radius of the reservoir as well as the power house.

There are a couple of villages residing within the prescribed limit at Rudraprayag where the project would come up. The company said it was even ready to provide 1 per cent free power for the local area development, in addition to the 12 per cent free power to the state from the project. In October, the government re-permitted L&T to resume work on the project on Chief Minister Ramesh P Nishank’s intervention. When contacted, a top government official said the implementation agreement with L&T had made a new beginning as far as the power sector was concerned.

Singoli-Bhatwari is the first hydel project in Uttarakhand being allotted to L&T, an infrastructure giant. The company has proposed to invest Rs 600-700 crore in this project.

Singoli-Bhatwari is being built on public-private partnership (PPP) model. It is being executed by on a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis.

The company will develop, finance, construct, commission and operate the power plant for a period of 45 years.

The project involves design and construction of a 20 m high and 80 m long barrage, 12-km headrace tunnel, surface powerhouse, substation and a 12-km 132 kv transmission line.