Arunachal signs pact with THDCIL for 1200 MW Kalai-II Hydro-Electric Project in Lohit River basin
Guwahati: The Arunachal Pradesh government on Saturday signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the state-own Tehri Hydropower Development Corporation India Ltd (THDCIL) for developing the 1200 MW Kalai-II hydroelectric project in the Lohit river basin.
This is the first project to be allotted to a central PSU in the Lohit basin and is also the first project to be taken up by Ms. THDCIL in the state.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Power Minister RK Singh for unflinching support towards restarting the project.
Khandu expressed that the state is committed to ensuring the full development of the hydropower potential for meeting the energy security of the country and asked all the stakeholders to implement the project in a mission mode.
Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein said: “The project will create historic development and employment opportunities in the Lohit Basin area. It will be developed in partnership with the state government which will have a 26% equity share. The dividends from this equity participation will further augment the State’s earnings from the projects.”
The MoA was signed between Ankur Garg, commissioner (hydropower) on behalf of the Arunachal Pradesh government and Bhupender Gupta, director (technical) THDCIL on behalf of THDCIL.
Dr HK Paliwal, adviser to the Arunachal Pradesh government and Dharmendra, chief secretary presided over the MoA signing ceremony.
Earlier in August this year, the state government had signed MoAs with three central PSUs - NHPC Ltd, SJVN Ltd and NEEPCO Ltd for developing 12 (twelve) hydropower projects with a combined capacity of 11,517 MW to be developed in Subansiri, Dibang and Siang basins.
With the allotment of the Kalai-II project to THDCIL, the state has thus concluded MoAs for 13 projects with a total capacity of 12,717 MW in this calendar year.
The Kalai-II project was initially allotted to an independent power developer in 2009 but remained stalled due to various reasons.
To unlock this potential, the Central and the state governments made joint and concerted efforts over the last two years and the award of this project to THDCIL will help restart its execution.
Ankur Garg, commissioner (hydropower) said that the project will bring in investment of over Rs 13,000 crore in the state during its construction phase. Once commissioned, it will generate over Rs 300 crore annually in free power revenue for the state and about Rs 25 Cr annually for the Local Area Development Fund.
