Centre Provides INR 4,136 Crore For 15 GW Hydropower Projects In Northeast The grant towards equity portion of the State Government of NER would be capped at 24 per cent of the total project equity subject to a maximum of INR 750 crore per project.
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The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Power for providing Central Financial Assistance (CFA) to the State Governments of North Eastern Region (NER) towards their equity participation for development of Hydro Electric Projects in NER through Joint Venture (JV) Collaboration between State entities and Central Public Sector Undertakings.
The scheme has an outlay of INR 4136 crore to be implemented from FY 2024-25 to FY 2031-32. A cumulative hydro capacity of about 15,000 MW would be supported under the scheme. The scheme would be funded through 10 per cent Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) for NER from the total outlay of the Ministry of Power.
The grant towards equity portion of the State Government of NER would be capped at 24 per cent of the total project equity subject to a maximum of INR 750 crore per project.
"The cap of INR 750 crore for each project would be revisited, if required, on a case-to-case basis. The ratio of equity of the CPSU and the State Government in the JV would be maintained at the time of disbursing of the grant," the government said.
Central Financial Assistance would be limited to only viable Hydro Electric Projects. States would be required to waive, stagger free power or reimburse SGST to make the project viable.
Participation of the State Governments in the hydro development shall be encouraged and risk and responsibilities shall be shared in a more equitable manner.
This scheme shall play a significant role in harnessing the hydro power potential of North East. It would bring huge investment in the North Eastern Region and would provide large number of direct employment to the local people along with indirect employment and entrepreneurial opportunities through transportation, tourism, small-scale business.
The government has been taking several policy initiatives to address the issues impeding Hydro Power development. To promote the hydro power sector and to make it more viable, the Cabinet, on 7th March, 2019, approved measures, declaring large hydro power projects as Renewable Energy sources, Hydro Power Purchase Obligations (HPOs), tariff rationalization measures through escalating tariff, budgetary support for flood moderation in storage HEP and budgetary support for the cost of enabling infrastructure.
