PRESS RELEASE - II
All the hydel projects awarded to various developers were studied and identified by the Ministry of Power, Govt. of India who had carried out the various studies since 1978 to assess the economically exploitable Hydro potential in the country. Central Electricity Authority with this objective of taking up the Hydro development in phased/systematic manner undertook the exercise to carry out Ranking Study of un-developed hydro sites so as to have a Shelf of prioritized hydro schemes. Under this scheme six major river basin systems were studied. These were; Indus basin, Ganga basin, Central Indian rivers, East Flowing Rivers, West flowing rivers and Brahmaputra basin. The study of Brahmaputra basin covers our area and the entire river systems forming its tributaries which include our own rivers also. Under this study 226 hydro project sites were identified in the Bhrahmaputra basin, out of which 168 sites having potential more than 25 MW each, were considered for the preliminary ranking study.
Further this could also facilitate the hydro developers to take up the implementation of potential sites in phased manner in order of their ranking. The project falling under grade A are to be taken up in top priority in view of their accessibility and viability followed by other grades in sequence.
30 schemes in Sikkim were identified with the total capacity of 7046 MW as per Govt. of India’s document on “Preliminary Ranking Study of Hydro Electric Schemes Vol IV- Brahmaputra Basin”. Out of these Preliminary Feasibility Reports were prepared for 21 projects by Govt. of India. Of these, 10 projects were ranked A while 11 were placed under Grade B.
As per the policy of Govt. of India, 100000 MW capacities has to be added by the end of 11th Five Year Plan so as to match the pace of the demand growth which would otherwise result in yawning gap between the supply and demand in the country. Further, the Central Govt. has directed all the state Governments to harness the hydro power potential to the extent of 50000 MW of which 3353 MW was to be contributed from the water resource of Sikkim wherein 21 hydel projects are identified. Apart from this Teesta Stage V (510 MW) were already with the NHPC and Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Teesta Stage III (1200 MW) was already available. Therefore, total Installed Capacity to be explored by state of Sikkim works out to be 5063 MW.
However, once the state ventured into inviting prospective developers on the basis of pre-feasibility reports and DPRs, projects and its capacity were reviewed based on the studies carried out for techno-economic viability. Apart from the above, the State Government also have explored six smaller projects for development under Private Sector during the year 1997 – 1998. Finally 26 projects were short-listed for award to IPPs with the Installed Capacity of 4747 MW. The projects were awarded to the IPPs based on capability, credibility, experience, net-worth and their company profile. The entire scrutiny was carried out by a High Level Hydro Power Committee set up by the State Government.
The Electricity Act, 2003 was promulgated and came into existence on 10th June 2003, which repealed the Indian Electricity Act, 1948 and all Policy announcements under it, except those which were not inconsistent with the Act of 2003. In pursuance of Section 3 of the said Act, the National Electricity Policy was formulated and notified by the Central Government on 12th February, 2005. On analyzing the National Electricity Policy, it appears that the Central Government, being mindful of the fact that the economic development of the States in the hilly regions was intricately linked with speedy harnessing of their Hydro Electric production, made a conscious deviation from the earlier Policy, and gave liberty to such States to develop their own Public Private Partnership model for generation, transmission and distribution of electricity.
The National Electricity Policy, while framing Guidelines for “Financing Power Sector Programmes” expressly provided:
“5.8.9 Role of private participation in generation, transmission and distribution would become increasingly critical in view of the rapidly growing investment needs of the sector. The Central Government and the State Governments need to develop workable and successful models for Public-Private Partnership. This would enable leveraging private investment with the public sector finances. Mechanism for continuous dialogue with the industry for streamlining procedures for encouraging private participation in power sector need to be put in place”.
Government of Sikkim, following the recommendations of High Power Committee, adopted Hydro Power Policy/Terms and Conditions for Issuance of Letter of Intent for selection of Joint Venture Partners for development of Hydro-Electric Projects in the State. All the projects have been awarded strictly adhering to these policies so approved by the Government.
As regards acquisition of land for all projects to be developed by Private Parties, entire land is to be acquired by Sikkim Power Development Corporation Limited, )a wholly owned company of the Government of Sikkim). The land is to be leased out to the developers for a period of 35 years after which the entire project will be reverted back to the State free of cost and in good running condition. This is as per the Implementation Agreement signed with the developers.
Electricity being a tradable commodity has to compete in the National market and with the stiff competition in the offing; the safest bet for the producer would be to be on the fray as early as possible to rope in the potential buyers under Long Term Power Purchase Agreement. Potential buyers mostly in the Northern and Western Regions of the country would tie up with the States like Arunachal Pradesh in case we delay in developing the projects.
The State Government apart from allotting the project sites has not conceded anything to the developers. For instance, it is the developers who have to arrange its own finance. The State Government does not furnish any guarantee on this count. Even the developers have to arrange for power evacuation system and identify the potential buyer on their own. Moreover after the signing of MOU, it is for the developer to pursue and get the required clearances from the State and Central Authorities before they commence the field work.
The State of Sikkim is being regularly acclaimed for working in the direction of nation building through water resource within the policy and frame-work of the Govt. of India. Some irresponsible articles appearing in some news items are not only misleading but totally designed to work against the people of Sikkim