BS reported that NHPC Limited is betting big on Arunachal Pradesh which is estimated to have hydro-power potential of more than 50,000 MW.
Mr SK Garg CMD of NHPC Limited said “Arunachal Pradesh has huge hydro potential. The state is estimated to have potential of 50,000 MW of which some 400 MW has been tapped. We will focus on Arunachal this year and are working on 6 projects, one of which is under construction. It has identified 6 projects with a capacity of 10,000 MW, of which one 2000 MW plant is under construction.”
The other projects in Arunachal Pradesh are Diwang with a capacity of 3,000 MW which is under construction, Tawang I and Tawang II with a capacity of 1,500 MW, Subansiri Middle with 1,600 MW capacity and Subansiri Upper with 2,000 MW capacity. It has capacity addition plans for the XI and XII plans with a CAPEX of INR 21,600 crore for the XI plan and INR 30,000 crore for the XII plan. It has firmed up investments of INR 70,000 crore till 2020 to scale up its capacity to 20,000 MW.
During the current plan, it wants to invest INR 21,000 crore in 11 projects with a capacity of 4,622 MW. He said “Beyond XI Plan, we are in the process of executing 16 projects with a capacity of 14,000 MW. These will come up between 2012-20. By 2020, we hope to cross 10,000 MW and beyond 2020, we hope to cross 20,000 MW.”
Mr Garg said “It plans to open eight to nine power stations by the end of 2012. It has identified 16 projects with installed capacity of 14,000 MW in Arunachal, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim and Manipur. It is also looking at Bhutan and Myanmar. We have been asked to prepare Detailed Project Reports for three projects in Bhutan with a capacity of 3,000 MW. One has been submitted and two will be submitted by 2010-11.”
(Sourced from Business Standard)