Cabinet allocates Rs 12,461 crore for revised hydro projects scheme

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In a bid to promote infrastructure around hydro power projects, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday modified its existing scheme and allocated Rs 12,461 crore for the same.

 “The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Power for modification of the scheme of budgetary support for the cost of Enabling Infrastructure for Hydro Electric Projects (HEP) with a total outlay of Rs 12,461 crore. The scheme would be implemented from FY 2024-25 to FY2031-32,” said the statement by the government.

The scheme was first announced in 2019 and builds on the initiative floated in 2016 to boost the growth of hydro power in the country. The scheme aims at faster development of Hydro Electric Projects and improvement of infrastructure in the remote project locations.

The scheme outlay covers cost of construction of roads, bridges, power transmission network, railway sidings and communication network. While the fund allocation has been boosted, the targeted capacity addition has been reduced to 31.35 gigawatt (Gw) by 2031-32. In the 2019 scheme outlay, the target was 75 Gw by 2030, according to a government statement then.

 “The limit of Budgetary Support for the cost of Enabling Infrastructure has been rationalised to Rs 1.0 crore per megawatt (Mw) for projects up to 200 Mw and Rs 200 crore plus Rs 0.75 crore per Mw exceeding 200 Mw, for projects above 200 MW. For exceptional cases the limit of budgetary support may go up to Rs 1.5 crore/Mw provided sufficient justification exists,” the government statement said.