Despite the odds including Pakistan's opposition to its operation, the 330-MW Kishanganga Hydroelectric Plant in Kashmir is likely to be commissioned by this year-end, a top NHPC executive said here today.
"We are hopeful of commissioning the Kishanganga project by November or December," National Hydroelectric Power Corporation chairman and Managing Director, KM Singh told PTI.
He was here to take part in the Foundation Day celebrations of NHDC, a joint venture of Madhya Pradesh government and NHPC.
Singh said the cost of the project has gone up to Rs 5,500 crore "due to different reasons" from initial estimate of Rs 3,900 crore.
The CMD said the project was supposed to be commissioned by January this year, but got delayed by a few months.
He conceded that NHPC faced "hard conditions" due to Pakistan's opposition and the militancy problem in the Valley.
"Though Pakistan went to the International Court against the project, India got some relief from there and restarted the project. We are nearing to impounding the reservoir," he said.
Responding to a query, he said, "Certainly Pakistan is creating the problem."
Referring to the turmoil in Valley, Singh said, "Due to this law and order problem, movement of the manpower, movement of the material has become very difficult...We are working under hard conditions."
The Kishanganga Hydroelectric Plant is part of a run-of-the-river hydroelectric scheme that is designed to divert water from the Kishanganga river to a power plant in the Jhelum river basin. The project is located close to north of Bandipore in Jammu and Kashmir.
On the status of the project, whose construction had started in 2007, Singh said, "Right now impounding of dam for power generation is going on. The time for impounding is from June 20 to August 20."
An impoundment facility is typically a large hydropower system that uses a dam to store river water in a reservoir.
