Power ministry taking steps to remove hurdles for hydel power plants

New Delhi: The power ministry is taking several steps to remove bottlenecks for implementation of hydel power projects, Parliament was informed today.

“The government has taken several steps to remove bottlenecks for implementation of hydel power projects in the country,” Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

He said that each power project is monitored by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) through frequent site visits, interaction with developers, critical study of monthly progress reports, etc.

A power project monitoring panel has been set up by the Ministry of Power to independently follow up and monitor the progress of hydro projects.

Review meetings are taken by Ministry of Power regularly with the concerned officers of CEA, equipment manufacturers, state utilities etc to resolve the critical issues, he added.

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“A Task Force on Hydro Power Development was constituted in 2007 under the Chairmanship of Minister of Power to examine and resolve issues relating to Hydro Project Development,” Scindia added.

An Advisory Group under the Chairmanship of Minister of Power has been set up in January, 2013 to discuss and deliberate various issues pertaining to the development of Power Sector, including hydro development.

Scindia said hydro power projects face certain bottlenecks during implementation which include, difficult geological conditions (natural), uncertain weather conditions (natural), local area agitations (man-made), etc.

PTI