The Hindu Business Line : 78,000 MW will be added during 11th Plan: Shinde

(from left) The Union Minister of Power, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde; the Governor of Sikkim, Mr B.P. Singh; the Chief Minister of Sikkim, Mr Pawan Chamling; and the Union Minister of State for Power, Mr Bharatsinh Solanki; at the dedication ceremony of the 510 MW Teesta Stage V Hydro Power Project at Baluatar, Singtam, East Sikkim.

Sarikah Atreya

Gangtok, July 4 The Union Minister of Power, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde, has said that 78,000 MW power will be added during the 11th Plan Period

He announced this while speaking at a function to dedicate the National Hydro Power Project’s (NHPC) 510 MW Teesta Stage V Hydro Power Project at Balutar, Singtam in East Sikkim on Saturday.

Mr Shinde said the UPA Government was committed to providing one unit of power to each household in the country by 2012.

In order to meet this challenge, a target of one lakh MW has been fixed for the 12th Plan, he added.

Ex-gratia payment

The Union Minister also announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 10,000 each to all the 412 employees working at the Teesta Stage V Project. He announced the setting up of a Rs 5-crore IT institute in Sikkim. On the issue of rehabilitation, Mr Shinde asked NHPC to appoint a Rehabilitation Officer to look into the grievances arising out of displacement of hydro power projects.

All future hydro power projects undertaken by his Ministry would set up an ITI so as to train local youth and then employ them locally.

The Governor of Sikkim, Mr B.P. Singh, the Chief Minister of Sikkim, Mr Pawan Chamling, and the Union Minister of State for Power, Mr Bharatsinh Solanki, were also present on the occasion.

Major project

The 510 MW Teesta Stage V is the first major hydro power project in Sikkim to be commissioned since March 2008. The project, built at a cost of Rs 2,619 crore, was completed in a span of about eight years.

NHPC is providing 12 per cent free power to Sikkim. The surplus power is being given to Damodar Valley Corporation, West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand.