Himachal puts 28 hydel projects on the block

Initiating the process of allotting the remaining identified hydel projects in the state, the Himachal Pradesh government has invited bids from public and private firms for developing 28 hydel-electric power projects with a total capacity of 4,000 Mw.

The state government has also sought applications for self-identified projects ranging from less than 5 Mw to 100 Mw and above on a build-own-operate-transfer basis.

The fresh tender comes shortly after the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board invited applications in October last year for 15 projects with a total capacity of 1,767 Mw.

HPSEB Member (Civil) R L Chouhan had earlier said corporate giants Reliance Energy, Torrent Power, Jaiprakash Group and engineering major Larsen & Toubro were among the companies that bid for the first tenders.

With today's notice, the HPSEB has put on the block all the potential projects identified in the state so far.

The state has a total potential of about 21,000 Mw in the hydel sector. Of this, projects totalling 6,067 Mw are already running, while projects totalling 7,600 Mw have been allotted.

With the allotment of these 43 projects by June this year, Himachal Pradesh would complete the process for all its identified power potential, he said.

Most of the 28 projects, which range from 5 Mw to 715 Mw, are located in the high-altitude Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts on Spiti, Chenab and Satluj rivers. A few projects are also located in Shimla, Chamba and Bilaspur districts.

The state government has reserved the right to take up to 49 per cent equity in all the projects above, a condition which some of the companies including Reliance are understood to have opposed during the first round.