Arunachal slams NHPC, bats for pvt players

In response to the concerns of the National Hydel Power Corporation, the Arunachal Pradesh government has conveyed to the power ministry the rationale behind awarding hydel power projects to private developers.

The state government has said it can get more free power from the private sector(as high as 19 per cent in some cases), compared with the 12 per cent provided by central public sector units.

"The memorandums of association executed with the private developers have offered the state governments more attractive terms than the central public sector units," government sources said.

In some cases, free power provided by private developers could go up by 19 cent as against only 12 per cent offered by the CPSUs, the state government communicated to the power ministry.

"In addition, private developers also allocate 11 per cent of their equity share to the state government, which will not have to contribute funds against the shares," sources added.

The corporation (NHPC) has been upset with the Arunachal Pradesh government over its recent decision to award hydroelectric projects in the state to private players without going through the competitive route.

"According to the government norms, projects above 100 Mw cannot be awarded through the memorandum of understanding route. Competitive bids are mandatory," Chairman and Managing Director S K Garg had said earlier.

The NHPC is unhappy that the state chose to hand over the power plants to private developers despite the fact that it had done the preliminary groundwork for them.

The company had opposed the move to allow Reliance Energy, Jaiprakash group and DS Constructions to set up hydroelectric projects.