Self-identified projects in U'khand hit roadblock

The process of allotment of micro, mini and small hydel projects in Uttarakhand, bids for which were invited last year, has hit a roadblock owing to overlapping of majority of the dams.

According to a top government official, the Urja Cell, which is evaluating the bids, has found that at least two to three different developers had sent bids on the same hydel project under the self-identified route.

In such a scenario, it has become very tedious for the cell to take a final decision.

In some other cases, the developers have not given full information regarding their projects. “We are now seeking clarifications from the respective developers whose information was not complete,” the official said.

This means the process of final allotment can take more time now, the official added.

But the official did not give any timeframe in this regard. Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (UJVNL), a state government enterprise, had received nearly 750-800 bids for these hydel projects mostly from private developers, the last date for which was December 27, 2008.

UJVNL had invited bids mostly through self-identified route. There were at least 10 identified projects for which the bids were also invited.

After facing problem with big hydel projects like Tehri mainly owing to rehabilitation problem, the government is now trying to focus on its new power policy on micro, mini and small hydel projects in the hill state with a hope to generate 1,100 Mw.

Hydel projects have been grouped in three broad categories — micro, mini and small.

Projects with capacity up to 100 Kw will be categorised as micro, mini will be between 100 Kw and up to 5 Mw and small projects will consist of above 5 Mw and up to 25 Mw.

The government has made provision for self-identified projects. In this category, developers may identify projects, prepare the detailed project report (DPR) and ask for allotment.

In the other category, the state or state-sponsored agencies may identify the projects of any size, prepare DPR and allot them.