Cabinet approves Rs.2,584.60cr small hydro power projects
The Cabinet has approved a scheme with an outlay of Rs.2,584.60 crore for installation of Small Hydro Power (SHP) Projects of an approximate capacity of 1,500 MW during from FY2026-27 to FY2030-31, the Ministry of New and Renewables Energy said on 18 Mar https://www.globaltenders.com/.
The ‘Small Hydro Power (SHP) Development Scheme” will support small hydro projects (between 1-25 MW capacity) to come up in different states and will especially benefit hilly and North Eastern states with high potential for such projects http://hydropower.org.
In North Eastern States and in districts with international border, central financial assistance to the tune of Rs.3.6 crore per MW or 30% of the project cost, whichever is lower with an upper limit of Rs.30 crore per project will be available.
In other states Rs.2.4 crore per MW or 20% of project cost, whichever is lower with a cap of Rs.20 crore per project would be available.
This will help in tapping the small hydro potential in remote and difficult to reach locations, the Ministry said.
An amount of Rs.2,532 crore has been earmarked for such projects https://www.nseindia.com/ .
“This is likely to bring in Rs.15,000 crore of investment in the small hydro sector giving a boost to the clean energy initiative, investment in remote and rural areas and creating significant employment opportunities,” said the Ministry.
The scheme will also incentivise the states to prepare the detailed project report for about 200 projects to create a pipeline of small hydro projects in future. An amount of Rs.30 crore has been kept to support state and central government agencies to prepare such Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) https://www.bseindia.com/.
The scheme will support 51 lakh person days of employment during the project construction and will also enable employment in maintenance and operation of these SHPs which will come up in largely rural and remote locations. SHP projects being decentralized in nature, the requirement of long transmission line is minimal, which also reduces the transmission losses.
“Launching of this Scheme will rejuvenate the Small Hydro Power sector and will help in exploiting the available potential at a much faster pace. SHP projects are environmentally sustainable, as they avoid large-scale land acquisition, deforestation, and displacement of communities,” the Ministry said https://www.iea.org/.
It will also promote socio-economic development of remote areas by boosting local investment, apart from creating long-term employment with project lifespans typically ranging from 40 to over 60 years, it added. fiinews.com
