West Bengal govt to merge hydro units with NHPC

This comes in the wake of Narendra Modi govt's proposal to merge all central hydro power companies and create a mega entity

West Bengal government has set the ball rolling for Centre's proposed mega merger of all state-owned hydro electric units.

In a recent decisin, the state government has decided to hand over its upcoming four hydro power projects with a combined capacity of about 290 MW to National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC).

The projects were under West Bengal government-run power agency West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL).

“The cabinet has already taken a decison to hand over four projects to NHPC. Now WBSEDCL will execute the transfer of projects,” West Bengal power minister Manish Gupta told Business Standard.

The four projects include : Rammam I, Teesta I & II, Teesta Intermediate and Teesta V. “All these projects were under various stages of implementaion. We believe, NHPC being a sepecialised large player is better eqipped technically and financially to take these projects, forward," Gupta said.

This comes in the wake of Narendra Modi government's proposal to merge all central hydro power companies and create a mega entity.

Although, the Centre has no stake in WBSEDCL, West Bengal government's move is likely to give a boost to the Union Power ministry's mega merger plan. The Centre has appointed NHPC, the largest of all hydro PSUs, to evaluate the prospects of the merger.

In a recent Power ministry convened meeting with central hydro power companies — National Hydroelectric Power Corp (NHPC), Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), North Eastern Electric Power Corp Ltd (NEEPCO) and Tehri Hydro Development Corp (THDC) – CMDs of all the companies have been asked to give their feedback on the merger plan in a week's time.

The meeting took place, amid reports that some of the companies like SJVNL were opposed to the merger.

According to a report prepared by SBI Caps at the behest of NHPC, the plan is to turn NHPC into a mega hydro power entity with a market value of over Rs 51,000 crore and a government stake of up to 81%.
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Meanwhile, NTPC, India’s single-largest thermal power company generation capacity of over 43,000 MW, also indicated that it may consider transfering its hydro projects to NHPC if the government takes such an initiative.

“I think the idea is to create a large body which would focus on its core area. We have a presence in hydro power to some extent. If asked by the government we will consider transferring them to NHPC,” NTPC chairman Arup Roy Chowdhury said responding to a question on this.

NTPC is currently constructing 1,500-Mw hydro capacity, which are in the various stages of implementation.