Teesta hydro project back on track: Goyal

Teesta hydro power project, which was stalled for seven years, is back on track as the work on the power plant in Sikkim started on October 1, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said.
"Teesta in Sikkim, stalled for seven years, back on track. On October 1 work started after Rs 9,000 crore of investment. 93 per cent investment was done earlier," Goyal tweeted today.
Earlier in September this year, he had said that the government will very soon resolve the issues related to Teesta power project in Sikkim which was holding back an investment of around Rs 9,000 crore.
The project commonly know as Teesta III is being implemented by Teesta Urja Ltd. The company is developing the 6x200 MW Teesta Stage-III Hydro Electric Power Project on Teesta River situated in North District of Sikkim.

This project is a part of overall development of Teesta basin being undertaken by Sikkim Government. The project is run of the river designed to generate 5,214 Million kWh (units) annually in 90 per cent dependable year, as per the information provided.
A senior official of one of the companies that invested in the project said that the first unit (200 MW) of the project is expected to be commissioned in March 2017. Thereafter, other units will start generating power at an interval of one to two months one by one.

The official said that all the statutory clearances for the Project were received by November 2007 and the civil works for the project were started in January 2008.

The first unit of the project was to be commissioned in 2013 but the project got delayed due to earthquake in 2011 and issues among promoters.
The official said that now Sikkim Government holds 51 per cent equity in the project followed by Singapore-based Asia Genco Pte (37 per cent) and PTC India (8 per cent).
Goyal in another tweet said, "In our ministry, we are converting everything into (mobile) app, to tell the people what we are doing and for monitoring work. You can monitor our performance and also participate in our efforts, with the same enthusiasm, honesty and commitment."

"Electrified 56 villages in Jharkhand last week. Finally, people of these villages can avail the benefits of power," the minister tweeted.