Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Signs $400m Pact With WB

By Jagdish Bhatt

SHIMLA: The Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVN), a central public sector undertaking established as a joint venture between the Government of India and Himachal Pradesh government, signed a loan agreement for $400 million for implementing the 412 MW Rampur hydro- electric project with the World Bank.

A spokesman of Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd said that the Rampur hydro-electric project would be located downstream of the 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri hydro-electric power station, which is also the largest hydro-electric plant in operation in the country.

He said that the Rampur project was likely to be commissioned by Jan 2012, within the 11th Five-Year Plan period and would generate 1770 million units of electricity annually.

Himachal Pradesh will get 30 per cent of the power generated at bus bar rates apart from 12% free power, besides additional power allocations as per its entitlement under the Gadgil formula. The spokesman said that the balance power would be allocated to the other member states of the northern grid that is Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir.

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