Uttarakhand to lodge claim for Tehri dam

Faced with acute shortage of electricity Uttarakhand has now set its eyes on the mega 2400 MW Tehri hydropower project to meet the demand.

The government has launched efforts to get the equity of Uttar Pradesh in Tehri dam transferred to the hill state. Mr Shatrughan Singh Principal Secretary, Energy said that “Since the Tehri project lies in Uttarakhand, we want the equity of Uttar Pradesh to be transferred to Uttarakhand.”

Mr Singh said that a formal letter in this regard has already been sent to the Centre. He added that “We are ready to pay the necessary amount to Uttar Pradesh.”

Under the provision of the Uttar Pradesh Reorganization Act 2000, there is a clause under Section 47(3), under which investments made before the creation of Uttarakhand should go to the state where the project is located.

Significantly, Uttar Pradesh is 25% partner in the Tehri project where the Centre’s share is 75%.

In case, Uttar Pradesh’s equity is transferred, Uttarakhand would get nearly 250 MW of additional power since the Tehri dam has the current capacity of producing 1, 000 MW which has been constructed with a total investment of nearly INR 9000 crore to INR 10,000 crores. Uttarakhand currently gets 12.5% of free power from Tehri dam.

(Sourced from Business Standard)