Hydel projects premium zooms to rs 18-27 lakh

New companies venturing into the hydropower sector in Uttarakhand are now ready to pay an upfront premium of Rs 18-27 lakh per Mw through the open bidding process in six hydel projects.

Kolkata-based Energy Development Company has agreed to pay the highest upfront premium of Rs 27 lakh for the 5.5- Mw Balighat hydel project on Saryu river in Bageshwar district following the bidding process. The company would also pay Rs 21 lakh for the 12.5 Mw Eastern Ramganga project.

After the re-bidding process last year, the Coromandal Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, a Hyderbad-based company, won the contract for the development of 17 Mw Nayar dam, 2 Mw Santudhar-I, 2 Mw Santudhar-II and 2.25 Mw Biyali Gaon – all on Nayar river, a tributary of the river Ganga in Pauri district. The company is ready to pay an upfront premium of Rs 18 lakh per Mw for the four projects.

The source close to the development told that the upfront premium in the six projects is far better than the self-identified ones. The government had received an upfront premium of only Rs 5 lakh per Mw in the controversial 56 self-identified projects which were cancelled last month. "One big reason for the huge upfront premium for the six projects is that their DPRs were ready much before the bidding process," a top official said. The DPRs of these projects were prepared by the Uttarakhand Infrastructure Project Company (UIPC), a joint venture between the state government and IL &FS which was also the consultant in the bidding process.

Meanwhile, after a delay of over one year, the issue regarding all these projects was finally put before an empowered committee of the government on hydel projects last week. The committee in principle has given its approval to the development of these projects with a rider that only three projects can be allotted to a single company under the 2008 power policy, said an official.

However, a final decision after the meeting is still pending. Chief Secretary N S Napalchayal, who chaired the meeting, said the final decision would come when the minutes of the meeting would be ready.