Twenty hydro projects with 11,000 MW capacity awaiting environment clearance: Javadekar

Twenty hydro power projects, including 12 projects in Arunachal Pradesh, are awaiting environmental clearance from the central government; the Lok Sabha was informed yesterday.

These 20 projects have a combined installed capacity of over 11,000 MW, with Arunachal Pradesh alone accounting for 9,266 MW, minister of environment and forests Prakash Javadekar stated.

Of the remaining, three are in Himachal Pradesh (425 MW), two in Jammu and Kashmir (1,220 MW) and one each in Karnataka, Sikkim and Uttarakhand (110 MW and 108 MW respectively), he added.

He said these projects are currently under appraisal by the central government and these will be accorded clearance within the stipulated time frame once the ministry receives all the requisite documents.

"Government is appraising 20 hydro power projects in consideration of grant of environment clearance to these projects," Javadekar stated in his written response to a question in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

"The proposals are processed for environment clearance as per the provisions under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006. These projects will be accorded clearance within the stipulated timeframe and after receiving requisite documents from the project proponents," he said.

He said, the Etalin HEP Project (3,097 MW) and Dibang Multipurpose Project (2,880 MW) - both in Arunachal Pradesh - are the two biggest hydro power projects among the 20 pending projects.

Arunachal Pradesh, he stated, has a hydro power 'potential' of 60,000 MW. There are, at present, three projects which are in different stages of implementation in the state.

The ongoing hydro power projects in Arunachal Pradesh include 110 MW Pare project and 600 MW Kameng project by North East Electrical Power Corporation (NEEPCO). While the Pare project is expected to be commissioned this year, the Kameng project will be commissioned next year. Work on the third one - 2,000 MW Lower Subansiri hydro electric project - is expected to begin soon, he said.