NHPC rescinds tunnel contract, to invite fresh bids

Lucknow Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation’s (UPPCL) chickens have come home to roost. With outstanding dues of R8,636 crore on July 5 — which the corporation says it has reduced to R4,500 crore now — the loss-making UPPCL finds it no longer has enough money to buy power from generating entities in the state.

Normally, these units should be able to sell this power outside the state, but with state-owned dispatch centres often not giving permission to do so, power capacity often gets wasted.

Delayed monsoon have reduced hydropower generation by up to 7% in the past 10 days because of lower availability of water, the country’s top hydropower producer NHPC said on Wednesday.

Chief Minister Nabam Tuki on Thursday urged the officials of National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) to amend the proposed policies for Recruitment, Resettlement and Rehabilitation(R&R) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of its ongoing Power projects in Arunachal Pradesh. Of late, NHPC has been into troubled waters with resistance emanating from various cross sections of the society against its projects in the State. The ambitious Lower Subansiri and the Dibang Multi-Purpose projects are more or less stalled due to stiff resistance from the people.

The West Bengal Government has sought the termination of NHPC (formerly known as the National Hydro Power Corporation) as an implementing agency for the rural electrification project at the Purilia

Tata Power has urged the Central Government to formulate a policy that allows a private company like it to undertake large capacity hydro electric projects in Bhutan and sell power generated in that country to India.

Tata Power has recently had discussions with Bhutan Government officials for development of larger projects. While the response from the Bhutanese Government has been quite positive, the company has been advised to take up the matter with the Indian Government so that Tata Power could be permitted to undertake co-development in Bhutan, in addition to the public sector undertakings of the Indian Government.

The erratic power supply that has been troubling the city this summer will improve as gas to feed the new Bawana power plant could be available soon, said Power officials.

Power situation in the city is likely to improve soon with Reliance Industries Ltd. agreeing to supply gas to the Bawana power plant, built at a cost of Rs.4,500 crore, to facilitate generation of 750 MW of power.

“Reliance Industries Ltd. has agreed to supply the gas to the plant. The nitty-gritties of the final gas purchase agreement is being finalised,” a top official of the Delhi Government said.

Recent govt study proposed exclusion of about 2,900 MW of hydel projects in Uttarakhand as they may impact ecology of the state

Over Rs 17,000 crore worth of investments in Uttarakhand would be impacted if the proposals of a government study to stop work on various hydel projects in the state are implemented. A recent government study has proposed exclusion of about 2,900 MW of hydel projects in Uttarakhand as they may impact the ecology of the state, sources said.

Over Rs 17,000 crore worth of investments in Uttarakhand would be impacted, if the proposals of a Government study to stop work on various hydel projects in the State are implemented.