In the cabinet meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Shri Bhupesh Baghel, the decision to increase the period of small hydro power policy by 10 years.
Raipur, 06 September 2022
In a cabinet meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Shri Bhupesh Baghel at his residence office here today, the proposal for extension of the Departmental Policy-2012 was approved to encourage the establishment of small hydro power projects in the state. At present, it has been decided to increase by 10 years in the notification issued for the establishment of small hydro power project of 25 MW capacity, whose period has expired in February 2022.
It is worth mentioning that the Small Hydro Power Policy was started by the Energy Department in the year 2012 to encourage the establishment of hydro power projects up to 25 MW capacity under small hydro power projects, the deadline of which ended after 10 years on February 2022. Is. According to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Power, Government of India and Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission, it is in the interest of the state to increase the period of small hydro power policy with a view to encourage investment and proper exploitation of available water resources in the state.
It is worth mentioning that power management in peak hours is a major problem for the distribution company of the state. Therefore, by proper storage and management of water under pump based hydroelectric projects, additional power generation can be done during peak hours, which will be helpful in power management and power purchase obligation of the state distribution company.
At present, small hydro projects of 75.65 MW capacity are being operated in the state. Apart from this, the process of execution of PPAs by investors for small hydro projects of about 83 MW capacity is under process and inter-state approval of projects of 171 MW capacity is under process. After preliminary survey, about 25 sites have been identified for the establishment of small hydroelectric project of 385 MW capacity. In order to attract investment in small hydro projects in the state, it has been decided to extend the period of small hydro power policy by 10 years.
