Uttarakhand to invite bids for 50 hydropower projects

In a bid to tap the state's vast water resources, the Uttarakhand government is likely to invite open bids for nearly 30 to 50 hydropower projects by the end of this month.

All these projects are ranging between 5 and 25 MW, and are situated all over the state, top officials said here today. "We are probably going for open bidding for all these projects," said a top government official, adding these projects may come up very soon.

Investments estimated to be in the range of Rs 3,000-Rs 5000 crore are proposed in these projects which would be built on various tributaries of Ganga and Yamuna rivers.

This is the first major decision since early this year when the government had announced the new power policy while deciding to give preference to local entrepreneurs and gram panchayats to build micro and mini hydel projects with a slew of sops.

Besides gram panchayats and locals, societies registered in the state are also being given preference in the power generation programme.

The projects have been divided broadly into three categories "" micro, mini and small. Projects with capacity up to 100 Kw will be categorised as micro, mini will comprise between 100 Kw and 5 Mw, while small projects will be in the range of 5 to 25 Mw. Big projects, however, will have a capacity above 25 Mw.

Significantly, top officials see a paradigm shift in the new power policy, claiming it would boost the power generation in the state.

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

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

However, small projects would be open to all and there would be no reservations. For this, premium would be decided as and when they are allotted depending upon the capacity of the project.

When contacted, state Power Secretary Shatrughan Singh said the government was likely to invite open bidding for all these projects.