Faced with acute shortage of electricity, Uttarakhand has now set its eyes on the mega 2,400 Mw Tehri hydropower project to meet the demand.
The government has launched efforts to get the equity of Uttar Pradesh in Tehri dam transferred to the hill state. “Since the Tehri project lies in Uttarakhand, we want the equity of Uttar Pradesh to be transferred to Uttarakhand,” said Principal Secretary, Energy Shatrughan Singh.
A formal letter in this regard has already been sent to the Centre, Singh said. “We are ready to pay the necessary amount to Uttar Pradesh,” said Singh. Under the provision of the Uttar Pradesh Reorganization Act 2000, there is a clause under Section 47(3), under which investments made before the creation of Uttarakhand should go to the state where the project is located.
Significantly, Uttar Pradesh is 25 per cent partner in the Tehri project where the Centre’s share is 75 per cent.
In case, Uttar Pradesh’s equity is transferred, Uttarakhand would get nearly 250 Mw of additional power since the Tehri dam has the current capacity of producing 1, 000 Mw, which has been constructed with a total investment of nearly Rs 9,000-10,000 crores. Uttarakhand currently gets 12.5 per cent of free power from Tehri dam.
Tehri dam comprises a 260.5 high earth and rock-fill dam which is one of the highest in the world. Under the first phase, all the four turbines (250 Mw each) of the project are in operation. Besides providing much-needed power to the northern grid, the project has started imparting benefits of additional irrigation facility to 2.70 lakh hectares of land. It is also providing drinking water to about 40 lakh people in Delhi and 30 lakh people in Uttar Pradesh.
In the second and third phases, the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) is implementing 400 Mw Koteshwar dam and 1,000 Mw Tehri pump storage (PSP) plant.
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Apart from Tehri, the Uttarakhand government is also eyeing on 80 Mw of free power from Naptha Jhakri project in Himchal Pradesh. “We will renew our efforts on this front also,” Singh said.
The power demand in Uttarakhand is growing by 10 to 15 per cent every year, which has now touched to 25-27 million units this year. After suspending its two key hydropower projects – 480 Mw Pala Maneri and 380 Mw Bhaironghati, the government is exploring various options to increase power availability in the state.