NHPC Bags Responsibility of Executing Teesta VI Hydropower Project in Sikkim

NHPC Limited has has announced that it has secured the duty to complete Teesta VI hydropower project years after the initial builder – Lanco Teesta Hydro Power Ltd (LTHPL) – went into bankruptcy and the 500 mw project hit a blockade.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) led by the Prime Minister has sanctioned the investment approval for procurement of LTHPL and implementation of the remaining work by NHPC.

“It is a big responsibility that we are happy to shoulder. With only around 30 per cent job done, the project will now require new planning and execution including situation analysis and fresh tendering,” believed Debajit Chattopadhyay, Executive Director, NHPC.

According to administrators, the project will be executed at a projected cost of Rs 5,748.04 crore, which includes the bid amount of Rs 907 crore for procurement of LTHPL.

The project is estimated to produce 2,400 million units of power in a year when the annual generation has the probability of being equal to or exceed 90 per cent of the time on annual basis during the expected period of operation of the scheme. While 12 per cent of this production will go to the host state Sikkim as royalty, the rest will be taken to the national power field.

NHPC has set a time limit of five years for the conclusion of project. “We do not apprehend any chance of cost or time overrun on this. But geological surprises and natural calamities may alter the scenario,” supposed Chattopadhyay