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Dulhasti project by March 2006
PM News Bureau
The power minister has insisted that NHPC's 390 mw Dulhasti hydroelectric power project in Jammu and Kashmir should be completed by the revised deadline of March 2006. The date has been revised umpteen times, most recently from September 05 to March 06. This time, however, the deadline is likely to be met as the project is in an advanced stage. The only work left relates to the 10.58 km long headrace tunnel that passes through a major geological fault zone. The excavation of the tunnel is complete.
The work has been affected due to insurgency. The Cegelec-Alstom-led French consortium, DSB, which was initially awarded the construction contract in 1989, pulled out and stopped work in August 1992. The work resumed in March 1996 after a series of discussions and negotiations.
The Jaiprakash-Statkraft Anlegg jv was appointed as contractors for the balance civil works, including the crucial headrace tunnel. But then JSA faced problems in hiring labour from outside the state due to stiff resistance from the locals. In the meantime, the cost of the project escalated from Rs 183.45 crore in 1982 to Rs 3,559 crore in 1989 to Rs 4,227 crore at present.
The Dulhasti hydel project involves installation of three generation units of 130 mw each, near Kishtwar in Doda district of Jammu & Kashmir. The plant will annually generate 1,928 million units of electricity, which will be sold to Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chandigarh and Uttaranchal.
[5 December 2005]
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