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Anil Sasi

New Delhi, Aug. 24 The Centre is working on a power import policy to step up hydropower development in the Himalayan-rim countries for facilitating electricity inflows into India, besides ensuring a greater play for private sector firms.

The policy, expected to be announced by the Government shortly, would aim at broad-basing India’s energy security by securing hydropower resources in the neighbouring countries and wheeling back bulk of the generated power as a means of tiding over peaking shortages at home.

The policy is expected to give Indian firms, including private sector companies, a larger role in harnessing energy resources across the region.

Issues such as the quantum of free power to be offered to the host country and the exposure to be taken by Indian developers and lenders are likely to figure in the policy.

Besides, it would help the Government to spell out the financial and technological assistance it can extend to these projects, officials involved in the exercise said.

The issue of tariff fixation and a mechanism for review of tariff are also expected to be addressed for inter-country projects being pursued by India across Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar.

While a transmission link with Bhutan is already in place, there are plans to develop two more projects in the Himalayan nation, besides sprucing up the existing transmission link to enable up to 5,000 MW of electricity imports into India by 2020.

In Nepal, two Indian firms — GMR Group and State-owned Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam — are setting up hydroelectric stations, while power trading major PTC India Ltd has signed pacts to wheel power from two other projects.

In Myanmar, joint development of a 1,200-MW hydro project, along with a power link, is being envisaged.

Among the neighbouring nations, Nepal, with a hydro-electric potential of 83,000 MW (of which generating 45,000 MW has been estimated as techno-economically feasible), is the biggest draw.

Indian private sector firms have already started to make inroads into Nepal, with the GMR Group having bagged the 300-MW Upper Karnali project and the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam getting the 402-MW Arun III project.

Separately, PTC India Ltd has committed to buy 750 MW from the West Seti project being developed by an Australian company and another 300 MW from the Lower Arun project being developed by a German firm. A host of Indian civil engineering firms, including Nagarjuna Construction Ltd, Continental Construction Ltd and Maytas Infra Ltd are also in the running for contracts in Nepal.

In Bhutan, after the success of the 1,020-MW Tala project, from which power is already being wheeled into India, three new major hydro projects — the 1,080-MW Punatsangchhu-I, the 1,000-MW Punatsangchhu-II and the 600-MW Mengdechu hydro electric projects — have been identified for joint development.

In the case of Myanmar, the 1,200 MW Tamanthi hydroelectric project has been identified for joint development and the setting up of a transmission link between India and Myanmar could be decided subsequently.

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