NHPC Executive Director Rakesh said the company is losing an estimated Rs four to Rs five crore daily since December due to protests and this has escalated the project cost to Rs 10,799.63 crore from the earlier estimates of Rs 6,285.33 crore.
"If construction work can be resumed immediately, the first unit could still be commissioned by December, 2015. We have asked both the state governments to provide us with adequate security and they have assured us of necessary steps in this regard", he told reporters here last night.
Contractor labourers have left the site as there is no work and NHPC is spending considerable money on corporate social responsibility as per norms, he said.
The two-member Thatte committee, set up by the Planning Commission, is probing the downstream impact of the project and is expected to submit its report by the month end.
Work at the 2000-MW project being set up at Gerukamukh bordering Assam and Arunachal Pradesh has been halted by anti-dam protests launched by the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and other organisations which contend that it would cause large-scale downstream damage in Assam.
Assam government has, however, maintained that the dam was needed for the development of the state and appropriate measures would be taken to mitigate its impact on the people and environment of the state.