The Hindu Business Line : Satluj Jal Vidyut bullish

Mr Y.N Appa Rao, Chairman and Managing Director of Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd, an alumnus of the Engineering College in Andhra Universiity, at the golden jubilee celebrations of the college on Friday. - C.V. Subrahmanyam

Visakhapatnam , March 25

SATLUJ Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd, which constructed the country's largest hydel power station in Himachal Pradesh, is currently working on three more hydel power stations in that State and is likely to bag two more shortly, said Mr Y.N. Appa Rao, its Chairman and Managing Director.

He was addressing students of the Andhra University Engineering College here on Friday where he was the chief guest on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the college. Mr Appa Rao had graduated in engineering from the college in the late sixties.

He said his company had set up the country's largest hydel station (1,500 MW) — Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Project — on Satluj in Himachal Pradesh with six units of 250 MW each. "All the units are functioning and so far in the past 10 months after commissioning, 6,300 million units of power has been generated. We have paid the Himachal Government Rs 200 crore. The net annual profit would be Rs 450 crore, the highest for any hydel station in the country,'' he said.

Pleased with the performance of the company, the Himachal Government had sanctioned it three more hydel projects — the 434-MW Rampur hydro project to be completed in five years, the 450-MW Khab hydel project and the 465-MW Luhri hydel project. The three projects are estimated to cost roughly Rs 2,000 crore each, he said.

He said the Himachal Government was likely to sanction two more power projects to the company and negotiations were in an advanced stage. Besides, the company was also taking up projects in Uttaranchal, Sikkim and Chhattisgarh. "It is our aim and ambition to emerge as a 5,000-MW hydel power generating company,'' he said.

Mr Appa Rao said more opportunities were opening up for engineering students now than in the past, as infrastructure was being built up and India was catching up with the rest of the world. "However, there is a need for greater participation of the industry in sponsoring research and there should be greater interaction between the academics and the industry,'' he said.

Prof. D. Ganapati Rao, principal of the college, said all efforts were being made to make the institution one of the best in the country.

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