The Power Ministry expects over 75,000 MW of hydro power capacity to become operational in the 13th Plan period (2017-2021). Once this is happens India’s total hydro power capacity will be at 1,14,785 MW.

The Ministry gave the data in the action-taken-report on issues raised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy. To the committee’s concern that there was lack of private sector participation in the segment, the Ministry said nearly 20,000 MW of the 75,000 MW capacity under development is in the private sector.

Development of hydro electric projects is an intricate and long drawn process of over 3-5 years. Adequate time is required for survey and investigation, preparation of detailed project report, obtaining statutory and non-statutory clearances, concurrence by the Central Electricity Authority and financial closure.

“Once the projects achieve financial closure, implementation takes another 5-8 years. Thus, hydro power projects usually have a long gestation period. Therefore, projects under development, including private sector projects, are likely to come up during the 13{+t}{+h} Plan period and beyond,” the Ministry said.

The long gestation period of projects has led to private companies taking the acquisition route to build the hydro power portfolio. Recently, Reliance Power, which is developing 5,292 MW of hydro power at 12 locations, agreed to acquire Jaiprakash Power Ventures’ 1,800 MW of operational hydro power capacity for an enterprise value of ₹12,300 crore.

To accelerate the pace of development of hydro projects, the Ministry said a a sub-group on hydro power has been set up. The sub-group consists of private developers and think tanks and is under the chairmanship of the Minister of Power.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW