Despite having vast resources for electricity generation, power-starved Uttarakhand has suffered a blow, with the Centre delaying approval for 21 hydropower projects totaling 2,123.6 MW. With this, the state government’s final hope is the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), which will make a decision in this subject based on the report of the expert group established by the Supreme Court and the responses of the ministries. For a long time, approximately 40 new proposed hydropower projects in the state have been blocked. On Friday, a meeting was conducted at the PMO under the supervision of PK Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, to seek clearance to build 21 projects.
“There is no dispute on 11 of the 21 projects, and the remaining 10 projects have also been approved by the Supreme Court’s expert body,” Sandeep Singhal, managing director of Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam, told this newspaper. According to information obtained from Energy Department departmental sources, the Ministry of Power backed the Uttarakhand proposal, but the Ministry of Jal Shakti objected to it on various problems connected to river flow.
As of now, the PMO has considered all aspects, said State Energy Secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram, and accordingly, the PMO will now take a decision on it. He presented encouraging signs about the construction of these projects. According to energy department sources, Uttarakhand’s total installed electricity capacity is 5,212.03 MW. It has 450 MW of installed thermal capacity. The Himalayan state also has 3,855.35 MW of installed hydroelectric capacity, of which the state owns 1,252.15 MW, the Centre owns 1,774.20 MW, and the private sector owns 829 MW.
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