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The sixth and last unit of the much-delayed 412- megawatt (Mw) Rampur hydro-electric project built by the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) in Himachal Pradesh came into operation on Thursday.
The first unit of the project started functioning in March this year. Each unit has a capacity of 68.67 crore Mw. Built on the Sutlej river located some 120 km from here.
"The entire project will generate 1,770 million units of electricity every year. 30 per cent of power will be supplied to the home state of Himachal which is SJVN's equity partner," said R P Singh SJVN chief.
"Himachal will also get 12 per cent free power. The balance power will be supplied to the northern grid states of Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal, Chandigarh and Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to formally dedicate this project to the nation shortly," Singh said.
In 2006, the cost of this World Bank-funded project was expected to be Rs 2,047 crore but this has now shot up to almost Rs 3,500 crore.
The increase is very high as it is virtually an extension of the country's largest hydro-electric project, the 1500 Mw Nathpa Jhakri project.
No diversion dam and de-silting chambers which are the two major costly components of a hydro-electric project were required to be built.
Only a 15-km tunnel and a power house were built to to reach the power house.
