The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has just uploaded the “Performance Audit Report of Hydropower Development Through Private Sector Participation” in full to its website. In what proves to be sober reading, both the dismal state of implementation and complete lack of environmental consideration are highlighted.
The executive summary is excerpted below:
Executive Summary
With the creation of Uttarakhand in November 2000, its hydro-power potential was recognized as key to the development of the State. The Government chalked out an ambitious plan to harness its hydropower potential through the concerted efforts of both the State and the private sector. The State policy to encourage generation of hydro-power was formulated in October 2002. The prime aim was to develop the state as ‘Urja Pradesh’, which would cater not just to the needs of the State but also to that of the power starved northern grid.
A performance review of the implementation of hydro-power projects through private sector participation was covering the key aspects of planning, allotment, operation, environment impact and monitoring of the projects revealed that:
Forty-eight projects with a total planned generation capacity of 2423.10 MW had been undertaken by Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in the State during 1993 to 2006, however, till March 2009, only 10 per cent of the projects with generation capacity of 418.05 MW were complete and operational. The prime reasons for the delays are problems associated with land acquisition, forest clearances and enhancement in project capacities. Significant areas of concern leading to non-achievement of the planned generation capacity are inadequate pre-feasibility studies for the projects, deficient project execution and primarily, absence of monitoring and evaluation of the projects by departmental authorities/nodal agency (UJVNL). More grave is the total neglect of environmental concerns, the cumulative impact of which may prove devastating for the natural resources of the State.
