NEW DELHI, April 23 — Even as the North Eastern States reel under severe power cuts, at least 18 hydropower projects with an installed capacity of 25,890 MW in the Brahmaputra and Barak River basins are still on papers, mired in bureaucratic wrangles at the Centre. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Power, Jayawanti Mehta said that present detailed project reports are being prepared for the 18 hydropower projects. Out of these, five projects with an aggregate capacity of 359 MW are ongoing schemes. Besides, Central Electricity Authority has cleared four hydropower schemes with a total capacity of 2890 MW.
While DPR of one project scheme of 1500 MW is under examination in CEA after appraisal. DPR for installed capacity of 21,141 MW have been returned for resubmission. They are under revision with the concerned project authorities, the Minister added. The dismal performance can be gauged from the fact that during the last three years additional generation capacity of 507 MW has been added in the North Eastern Region. The availability of additional capacity has reduced the peak shortage in the Region from nine percent in 2001-2002 to six per cent. As against a peak demand of 1209 MW, around 1135 MW are available in the NER, the Minister divulged.
In the 10th Plan period further addition of 433 MW in State sector and 585 MW in Central sector has been planned, it was disclosed. Meanwhile, the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) losses have touched Rs 370 crore in 2001-2002, while its uncovered subsidy touched Rs 386.07 crore.