Question : CLEARANCE TO HYDRO POWER PROJECTS

(a) whether State Government of Arunachal Pradesh has awarded major Hydel Power Projects to private parties arbitrarily bypassing the agreements with National Hydro Power Corporation;

(b) if so, the details thereof along with the reasons therefor;

(c) whether there is any delays in undertaking all the Mega Hydro Power Projects in North-East due to non-clearance of the environmental issues;

(d) if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the total Hydro Power Potential in the country and the share of Arunachal Pradesh in it?

THE MINISTER OF POWER (SHRI SUSHILKUMAR SHINDE)


(a) & (b) : Siyom (Siang Middle) Hydroelectric project (HEP) (1000 MW) and Siang Lower HEP were transferred by Government of Arunachal Pradesh on 22.3.2000 for execution by National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited (NHPC) in the Central Sector. However, the Government of Arunachal Pradesh has since entered into a Memorandum of Agreement on 22.2.2006 for execution of these projects through private developers. In addition to these two projects, three other projects, viz. Tato-II HEP (700 MW), Naying HEP (1000 MW) and Hirong HEP (500 MW) for which the work of preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) was entrusted to NHPC under the 50,000 MW Hydroelectric Initiative, have also been entrusted to private developers by the State Government. No reasons have been given by Government of Arunachal Pradesh for replacing NHPC by private developers for implementation of these projects.


(c) & (d) : A total number of 9 projects are held up in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur due to non-receipt of clearance from the Ministry of Environment & Forests. Details of these projects are given in Annexure.


(e) : The reassessment studies of hydroelectric potential of the country, completed by Central Electricity Authority in 1987, have placed the hydro power potential at 84,044 MW at 60% load factor. Of this, the potential of Arunachal Pradesh is 26,756 MW.