Faced with acute shortage of power, the Uttarakhand government has now set its eyes on the mega 2,400 Mw Tehri hydel project asking the Centre to transfer the 25 per cent share of Uttar Pradesh in the dam to the hill state.
During his meeting with Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde in New Delhi Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said since the Tehri project lied in Uttarakhand, the equity of Uttar Pradesh should be transferred to Uttarakhand.
Last year also, the state government sent a letter in this regard to the Centre seeking the transfer of Uttar Pradesh’s share in Tehri to Uttarakhand.
Under the provision of the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2000, there is 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 of Tehri project where the centre’s share is 75 per cent.
In case, the 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 crore. Uttarakhand currently gets 12.5 percent 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 for 40 lakhs 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.
The power demand in Uttarakhand is growing by 10 to 15 percent every year which has now touched to 27-28 million units this year. After failing to make headway in the hydro sector despite its tremendous potential, the government is exploring various new options to increase power in the state.
