90 firms bid for 23 Himachal Pradesh hydel projects

Reliance Energy Ltd and Brakel Corporation are among 90 companies interested in the 23 hydel projects in Himachal Pradesh's three districts. These proposed projects are located in the tribal districts of Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur and Chamba.

At least 16 of these projects are in the Lahaul and Spiti district which has some of the roughest mountain terrains in the country.

Official sources in the Himachal Pradesh State Electricty Board (HPSEB) today said besides Reliance Energy Ltd, Brakel Corporation of Netherlands, other applications were from LNG Bhilwara Group, Gammon India Ltd and Patel Engineering.

Sources said 120 applications were sold and the HPSEB received 90 applications.The 23 hydel projects have a joint power generation capacity of 3,307 Mw and involve an investment of around Rs 13,228 crore.

Fifty-three applications are for projects with less than 100 Mw capacity, while the remaining 37 are for projects with more than 100 Mw.

"The projects will be awarded by the build-own-operate-transfer (Boot) system. Some big power companies have also applied," said state power minister Vidya Stokes.