Work on state-run NHPC's Parbati hydro power project in Himachal Pradesh, which has been stalled due to differences with the civil contractor, will begin by the end of the current financial year.
"The work on the tunnel boring machine (TBM) for the Parbati project would start soon. We have terminated the previous contract and have started the process for appointing a new contractor for Parbati," Chairman and Managing Director NHPC ABL Srivastava said.
He said the entire process of appointing the contractor would take 6-8 months, after which the work would begin.
However, he did not quantify the investment loss on the project due to the stoppage of work.
Parbati project was stalled on account of the poor geological strata of the area, as well as a dispute with the civil and tunnel boring contractor, Robbins.
The delay has affected the company's capacity addition plans and also its balance sheet.
"Delays have led to cost over-runs, generation loss and if delays continue for abnormal period it would have an impact on the balance sheet," Srivastava said.
The hydro power utility has been under the Power Ministry's scanner for not executing the projects in the stipulated time.
There has been a delay in the execution of the 2,000-MW Lower Subansiri (Assam), Teesta Low Dam III (130 MW) and IV (160 MW) in West Bengal and 231-MW Chamera-III project in Himachal Pradesh.
The execution of the Subansiri project in Assam stopped in December, 2011, due to local opposition. Even though the state government has intervened but the work is yet to resume.
The situation in Jammu & Kashmir has adversely impacted work on the company's three projects in the state.
NHPC is constructing Uri-II with a capacity of 240 MW, Nimmo Bazgo (45 MW) and Chutak (44 MW) in J&K. These three projects in J&K were earlier scheduled to be commissioned during the current XI Five-Year Plan (2007-12), but now these projects are likely to miss their commissioning schedule.
NHPC, which has an installed capacity of over 5,300 MW, plans to ramp up this capacity to over 10,000 MW by 2017.
The company plans to commission 1,200 MW of capacity during the current financial year (2012-13), including spill-over from the last fiscal.
Over 21,000 MW capacity of NHPC is under various stages of implementation, according to its website.
