BackWork yet to start on 88 private sector projects in Arunachal
The projects represent 33,154.5 megawatts of power generation capacity
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New Delhi: Construction work on 88 hydropower projects awarded to private companies by the Arunachal Pradesh government is yet to start, according to the Central Electricity Authority, India’s apex power sector planning body.
The projects represent 33,154.5 megawatts (MW) of power generation capacity.
A total of 41,601.5 MW of hydropower capacity allotted by various states to private companies were either yet to be taken up for construction or still under the award stage as on 31 August, shows a list prepared by CEA that Mint has reviewed.
The delays could potentially affect India’s energy security plans, said experts.
KSK Energy Ventures Ltd, Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd, Reliance Energy Ltd, Jaiprakash Associates Ltd and Jindal Power Ltd are among companies awarded projects mentioned in the list. Jindal Power is owned by Congress party lawmaker Naveen Jindal.
A.S. Bakshi, chairman, CEA, didn’t respond to phone calls or a message left on his cellphone.
Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Nabam Tuki said the state has allocated more than 100 projects totalling around 42,000 MW and another 15,000 MW are to be allocated.
“Why private projects, even projects awarded to the public sector companies such as NHPC has been delayed," Tuki said. “However, there are other projects such as those of Neepco (North Eastern Electric Power Corp. Ltd) which are on track."
Any delay in the construction of hydropower projects in the region, particularly those on rivers originating in China, will affect India’s strategy of establishing its prior-use claim on the waters, according to international law.
India is concerned that hydropower projects planned in Arunachal Pradesh may be affected by China’s plan to divert water from rivers that flow into the Brahmaputra to the arid zones of Xinjiang and Gansu.
While Himachal Pradesh accounts for 3,654 MW of the hydropower capacity awaiting construction—followed by Sikkim (1,759 MW), Uttarakhand (1,125 MW), Meghalaya and Nagaland (1,124 MW) and Jammu and Kashmir (620 MW)—Arunachal Pradesh alone accounts for 33,154.5 MW, according to the CEA list.
The state boasts the highest potential for hydropower generation in India. The potential of the north-eastern states and Bhutan in this regard is about 58,000MW. Of this, Arunachal Pradesh accounts for 50,328MW, or about 87%.
“While these delays will hamper India’s energy security plans, hydropower projects have long gestation periods and their challenges vary," said Amol Kotwal, associate director (energy and power systems practice) for South Asia and the Middle East at consulting firm Frost and Sullivan. “These projects are also in remote locations and lack of hydrological data and single window clearances contribute to the delays. Laying the transmission infrastructure is also a problem."
Executing a hydropower project is time-consuming and tedious. It involves a thorough survey and investigation, detailed project reports (DPRs), resettlement of the affected population and infrastructure development. On an average, it takes around five years to execute a hydropower project after it is cleared for construction.
While questions emailed to KSK Energy, Reliance Energy and Jaiprakash Associates remained unanswered till press time, a spokesperson for Indiabulls in a text message said its projects are “now with CESC (Calcutta Electric Supply Corp.), we have made announcement to exchanges in May 2012."
A Jindal Power spokesman said the company submitted a DPR for its Etalin project to CEA in February and is preparing reports for its Kamala (formerly called Middle Subansiri) and Attunli projects. “The construction can start only after concurrence of DPR from CEA and various clearances such as environment, forest and land acquisition," the spokesman said in an email.
Environment and forest clearances and the land acquisition process takes significant time, the spokesman added. “Also, the unique challenge for these projects is their inaccessibility. The roads leading to Etalin and Attunli projects, for example, are blocked for more than six months in a year."
There have been concerns about faltering hydropower generation in the country, accounting as it does for 39,291.40 MW, or 19% of India’s 205,340.26 MW power-generating capacity.
Mint reported on 10 October that the Arunachal Pradesh government awarded private companies contracts to build four hydropower projects even after state-owned NHPC Ltd had done extensive preliminary work on the projects in the form of DPRs.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in its report, Performance Audit on Capacity Expansion in Hydro Power Sector by CPSEs (central public sector enterprises), tabled in Parliament recently, said the power ministry needs to instruct state governments that the allocation of such projects above 100 MW needs to be “fair, transparent and competitive".
The Arunachal Pradesh government is run by the Congress party, which heads the ruling federal United Progressive Alliance administration that’s fighting allegations of corruption on coal allocations.
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