SJVN set to invest Rs 60,000 crore into Arunachal Pradesh projects

State-owned power producer SJVN on Wednesday said it will invest Rs 60,000 crore to harness 5,097 megawatts (Mw) of hydropower in Arunachal Pradesh.

SJVN Chairman and Managing Director Nand Lal Sharma held a meeting on Wednesday with Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein in New Delhi to discuss a road map to develop hydroelectric projects, according to a statement.

“SJVN Ltd will invest Rs 0,000 crore to harness 5,097 Mw of hydropower in Arunachal Pradesh,” the company said in the statement.

He said that pursuant to the efforts of Union Power Minister R K Singh, the Arunachal Pradesh government has accepted the allotment of five hydroelectric projects having a total capacity of 5,097 Mw to SJVN, for which a memorandum of understanding will be signed shortly.

The projects, namely Etalin Hydroelectric Project (HEP) (3,097 Mw), Attunli HEP (680 Mw), Emini HEP (500 Mw), Amulin HEP (420 Mw) and Mihumdon HEP (400 Mw), are located in the Dibang basin of Arunachal Pradesh.

Sharma said he has always advocated the concept of the Integrated River Basin Development Approach, wherein the allocation of hydro projects in one single river basin to one developer will enable optimum utilisation of manpower, infrastructure and financial resources.

He expressed satisfaction that this novel concept has been accepted by the government of Arunachal Pradesh in the allocation of these projects.

Sharma said the development of these projects involving a tentative Investment of Rs 60,000 crore will be commissioned by SJVN in the next 8-10 years. He added that on commissioning, these projects are expected to generate about 20 billion units of clean energy annually on a cumulative basis.

The detailed reports of some of these projects have already been prepared, while some projects are under the survey and investigation stage.

Sharma stated that with the allotment of these projects, SJVN will have a significant footprint in the country’s northeastern region enabling SJVN to be part of the development process of the region.

The deputy chief minister assured full support from the state government for the execution of these projects.

The company has seen exponential growth in recent years and now has 41 projects under various stages of development with a capacity of more than 16,000 Mw.

SJVN has set an ambitious target to achieve an installed capacity of 5,000 Mw by 2023, 12,000 Mw by 2030 and 25,000 Mw by 2040.

Earlier this  month, the firm had urged the Uttar Pradesh government to allot the company more renewable power projects in the state.