Private developers withdraw from 7 hydel projects in U'khand

Though the government has committed to allot the remaining hydel projects (with a capacity of 1,000 Mw) to private sector under the self-identified route in Uttarakhand, the hullabaloo by the Opposition parties appeared to have cast shadow over the process.

In less than a month after allotments during Phase-I, some developers have now started backing out. The government today said companies and individuals had withdrawn from seven hydel projects. Last month, the government had allotted 56 projects having capacity to generate 960 Mw.

Now, after making commitment to allot remaining hydel projects, the government is treading a very cautious path in the wake of allegations of irregularities. “It will take a long time to complete the process,” Pant said.

Though the government claims the allotment was done in a transparent manner, Congress alleged widespread irregularities in the process, with the leader of opposition Harak Singh Rawat demanding a CBI probe. He also called for immediate cancellation of the entire process, alleging that a series of projects had been allotted to liquor companies.

The government had received nearly 736 bids from private developers. Of these, only 621 bids were found to be valid and the rest were rejected. Of the 621, only 175 projects were shortlisted for the allotment, of which 49 have now been allotted.