U'khand mulls bifurcating Lakhwar-Vyasi project

The Uttarakhand government is considering a move to bifurcate the 420-Mw Lakhwar-Vyasi hydel project much to the chagrin of the state-run NHPC Ltd.

Top officials here today said that the state government has now agreed to hand over the multi-purpose 300-Mw Lahwar project to NHPC but refused to part with the 120-Mw Vyasi project. Both the projects, close to each other, are proposed on the river Yamuna in Lakhwar area of Dehra Dun district.

“We want our own agency to build the Vyasi Project,” said state Power Secretary Shatrughan Singh. A letter in this regard would shortly be sent to the Union power ministry, he added.

In July, the state government had allotted both the projects to Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (UJVNL) soon after the two other projects — 380-Mw Bhaironghati and 480-Mw Palamaneri — over the Bhagirathi river were put on hold following protests by environmentalist GD Agrawal.

Coming to the aid of NHPC, Union Minister of State for Power Jairam Ramesh wrote a letter to the state government requesting that the project should be handed over to the PSU, which has carried out various surveys and prepared the fresh detailed report of the Lakhwar-Vyasi project.

The state government’s contention is that the project was allotted to UJVNL mainly because Uttarakhand can retain all the power. In case the project goes to NHPC, the state can earn only 13 per cent of the power as royalty.

The cost overrun factor is plaguing the project, which is hanging fire for the past 20 years.

The project is likely to produce 927 million units of power besides irrigating 40,000 hectares of land through the east Yamuna canal. Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi would be the beneficiary states, which will get the drinking and irrigation waters from the project.

When contacted, NHPC officials here only said the project should have been given to them since they carried out the basic groundwork. Moreover, they pointed out that the cost of the power from the project is being estimated at Rs 8 crore to Rs 10 crore per Mw, which would not be viable for the state government. “NHPC will get heavy subsidy on the project which the state government cannot get,” a top NHPC official said.