The National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) and the Orissa government owned Orissa Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) have identified 12 hydro projects for development in Joint Venture (JV). These projects will have generating capacity of over 25 Mw each.
The NHPC has submitted the draft JV proposal to the Orissa government and will proceed with these projects after getting the clearance from the Orissa government.
Though initially 12 projects have been identified for development in JV mode, the number can increase or decrease after close examination during the preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR), a senior executive of the company said.
The identified locations are middle Kolab, Tel integrated project, lower Bansadhara, Balijori Hydel Project, Salki Hydel Project, Khadago Dam Project, Uttei Roul Integrated Project, Mahanadi-Brahmani River Link, Baramul Hydel Project, Sindol-I, Sindol-II and Sindol-III projects. “We have sent the JV proposal to the Orissa government and we believe it is under the active consideration of the Orissa government. Once the clearance is obtained we will take the proposal to our board for approval before execution of these projects”, S K Garg, chairman and the managing director (CMD), NHPC told Business Standard.
Since the board is an internal body of the company, it will not have any problem in getting the approval. The company will sign memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government after the state government clears the JV proposal. So signing of the MoU will depend on how fast the Orissa government is able to clear the proposal, he added.
The proposed JV projects will have 30:70 equity and debt component with NHPC holding 51 percent equity and OHPC the remaining 49 percent. However, it will be subject to the approval by the Orissa government.
Garg said, the state government is seeking 100 percent power from these Joint Venture projects and the Union power ministry can take the decision in this regard. Regarding the capacity of the projects, the NHPC chief said, it has not been worked out. This will be examined at the time of preparation of the DPR for them.