March 30, 2013

The Asian Development Bank has decided to extend a loan of USD 300 million to Uttarakhand to help the state government accelerate work on power generation and transmission projects, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has said.

At a review meeting with power department officials, Bahuguna said the ADB loan will be disbursed in phases and asked them to take up power generation and transmission work across the state on a large scale with the amount through Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd (PTCUL) and Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (UJVNL).

PTCUL would strengthen the transmission system at a cost of Rs. 1,464 crore. The corporation was setting up a 400 kV substation at Srinagar, which would provide electricity in Alakananda River valley area.

A 400 kV sub station is being set up at Pipalkoti using GIS technique and a 150 km line from Srinagar to Kashipur is also being installed. A 220 kV, a 132 and a 33 kV stations will be set up in Dehradun by May this year.

Five mini hydropower projects were being set up by UJVNL namely Kaliganga 1 (2×2 MW), Kaliganga 2 (2x3MW), Sobla 1 (2x4MW), Madhmaheshwar (3x5MW), Kaldigar (2×4.5 MW). Kaliganga 1 has already started production while all the others will be completed by December 2015.