NTPC is awaiting nod from the Arunachal Pradesh government for its proposed Rs 1 lakh crore hydro power project, a top company official said Tuesday.
As per its policy, the state government is believed to have asked NTPC to make an upfront payment of about Rs 400 crore for setting up the project.
“We have to sort out various matters. The state government has to sort out a lot of things like land, environment, etc,” NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Arup Roy Choudhury told reporters here.
According to sources, the state government is asking NTPC to make an upfront payment of about Rs 4 lakh a megawatt before starting work on the project.
The company had evinced interest in setting up a 9,750 MW hydel project at Siang in Arunachal Pradesh at an investment of about Rs 1 lakh crore.
The proposed Rs 1 lakh crore investment for the project is to be spread over 10 years or the construction time of the project. Around Rs 10 crore is incurred for producing one megawatt of hydro power.
Former Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had written to the Arunachal Pradesh government for allowing NTPC to execute this project in the State.
As per reports, the efforts to harness the Brahmaputra come after China communicated its plans to construct hydro-electric projects on Yarlung Tsangpo — the Tibetan name for the Brahmaputra.
The current installed capacity of NTPC is 39,174 MW through 16 coal based, seven gas and seven joint venture power stations spread across the country.
“We are importing 16 million tonnes coal in this fiscal year of which 9 million tonnes has been done and the remaining would be done during the year,” Choudhury added.
