Hutong-II hydroelectric project in Arunachal Pradesh may not happen due to steep rise in the project cost. While the Hutong-II hydroelectric project was originally envisaged as a storage scheme, the Standing Technical Committee decided to implement the project as a Run-of-the-River scheme with increased pondage. STC noted that it is not possible to implement the project as storage scheme within the allotted level regime. The switchover to RoR scheme entails increasing the Full Reservoir Level from 714.5 m to 760 m. With increased pondage, the cost of the project has gone up by Rs.3,676 crore rendering the project financially unviable for Mountain Fall India Pvt. Limited, the project proponent. Unless the government subsidises the enhanced cost, MFIPL may not be able to take the project forward. However, the government is unlikely to consider the subsidy proposal favourably as it may set a bad precedent for other private players.
