Government initiatives for increasing national hydel capacity

Below is the details of the initiatives taken up by the Indian Government for stimulating hydropower development in the country:

• The Hydro Power Policy of 2008 was adopted by the Government to encourage private developers in the hydro sector. With measures like transparent selection criteria for awarding sites to private players, the government attempted to provide these private developers with a level playing field.
• The Electricity Act of 2003, which replaced the earlier Electricity Act, 1910, the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 and Electricity Regulatory Act, 1998, has brought in a regime of direct commercial relationships between generating companies and consumers/traders. Further, the act heralded reforms in this sector, including the formation of organizations like Central Electricity Regulatory Commission and State Regulatory Commissions. The Act has also emphasized the development of hydro power and safety of the structures therein.
•  National Water Policy, 2002, was brought by the Government, recognizing water as a prime national resource. The policy states that in the planning and operation of water systems, water allocation priority should broadly be in the order of drinking water, irrigation, hydropower, ecology, agro industries and non agriculture industries, navigation and, finally, other uses.
• National Electricity Policy lays emphasis on the complete development of the feasible hydro potential in the country, in order to facilitate economic growth in the northeastern states, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. Since hydro projects call for comparatively larger capital investments, availability of debt financing of longer tenure has been recommended. The state governments have been advised to review the procedure for land acquisition and other clearances for achieving speedy implementation of hydro projects.
• Further, the Mega Power policy has also been revised. The mandatory condition of interstate sale of power for obtaining the mega power status has been removed in the revised policy. Moreover, the import of capital equipment for mega projects, including HEPs, has been made free of customs duty, and export benefits, as per the EXIM Policy, have been extended to domestic bidders for projects, both, in public and private sectors.  
• A Task Force on Hydro Project Development has also been constituted to look into all issues related to development of hydro power. This includes issues of rehabilitation and resettlement of project affected persons. Notably, the Task Force is headed by the Minister of Power.
• An Inter-Ministerial Group was constituted in 2009, to evolve a suitable framework, so as to guide and accelerate the development of hydro power in the north eastern region.
•  A special monitoring group, under the chairmanship of Power Secretary, has been constituted to discuss and sort out various issues, aided by video conferencing, for J&K and the northeastern region.
• A "50,000 MW hydropower initiative" has been taken up by the government. Under this program, 162 hydroelectric projects, spreading across 16 states, were taken up for preparation of Preliminary Feasibility Reports (PFRs) in the year 2003-04. As the nodal agency, the Central Electricity Authority was entrusted with overall coordination, facilitating collection of data, quality control by vetting conceptual planning, assessment of power benefits, etc. Of these 162 projects for which PFRs have been prepared, 78 have been taken up for detailed survey and investigation and preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPR), while DPRs have been prepared for 21 projects, so far.