Big Gift to Himachal Pradesh! Cabinet approves Rs 1810-cr Investment for Luhri Hydro Power Project

New Delhi, Nov 5: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the investment of Rs 1,810.56 crore for 210 MW Luhri Stage-I Hydro Electric Project on river Satluj in Shimla & Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh. This project will generate 758.20 million units of electricity annually.

 

 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah hailed the Centre for giving its nod to the hydropower project. Shah termed this project as a big gift to the people of the state from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Big gift to the people of Himachal from PM Modi. As Modi govt has approved 210MW Luhri Hydro Power Project worth Rs 1810 crores in today's cabinet. This clean energy project will help in reducing pollution and generating huge employment opportunities in the region," he said.

 

 

The project will be commissioned within a span of 62 months. The power generated from it will help in providing Grid stability and will improve the power supply position. Besides adding valuable renewable energy to the grid, it would also lead to a reduction of 6.1 lakh Tons of carbon dioxide from the environment annually, thus contributing to an improvement in air quality.

 

The construction activities will result in direct & indirect employment to around 2,000 persons and will contribute to overall socio-economic development of the State. Further, Himachal Pradesh will benefit with free power worth around Rs. 1,140 crore from this project, during Project Life Cycle of 40 years. The Project Affected Families will be provided with 100 units of free electricity per month for ten years.

 

This project is being implemented by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) on Build-Own-Operate-Maintain (BOOM) basis with active support from central government and Himachal Pradesh government. Meanwhile, the MoU was signed with Himachal Pradesh during Rising Himachal, Global Investor Meet, which was inaugurated by PM Modi last year. The central government is also supporting this project by providing grants of Rs. 66.19 crore for enabling infrastructure which has helped in reducing in power tariff.

 

SJVN has forayed into the fields of Renewable Energy, Power Transmission and Thermal power generation. It has envisaged Internal Growth Targets of total installed capacity from all sources of 5000 MW by 2023, 12000 MW by 2030 and 25000 MW by year 2040.