Kinnaur transmission project returned to electricity board
In a major U-turn in the power sector, the government has handed back the construction work of 66 Kv transmission line from Pooh to Kaza and a 66 kv sub-station at Samdo in Kinnaur district to Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited. In a notification issued on October 5 last year, the government had handed over this project to Himachal Pradesh Power Transmission Corporation Limited (HPPTCL), stating that the work did not fall within the purview of the electricity board.
Not too long back, the government had returned four small hydroelectric projects in Chamba to HPSEBL after handing it to Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited. Also, the administrative control of Chief Engineer (System Operations) also went back to HPSEBL from Himachal Pradesh Energy Management Centre. “Such back and forth not only delays the projects but also results in cost escalation, causing financial losses to both government and the board,” said an HPSEBL official.
The transmission line project in Kinnaur, worth Rs 362 crore, was conceived to provide 24x7 power supply in the border areas of Kinnaur and was initially awarded to HPSEBL. As per the Joint Front of the HPSEBL Employees and Engineers, the board had completed the groundwork like survey and investigation and land acquisition when the project was handed over to HPPTCL.
“The board was on the verge of allotting the work when it was given to the HPPTCL. Anyway, we are thankful to the government for handing it back to the board. The board will complete it as early as possible,” said Lokesh Thakur, convener of the Joint Front.
Thakur further said that the decision proved that the HPSEBL was entitled to construct lines and sub-stations, irrespective of the voltage, when it is embedded with the distribution system.
The Joint Front, while opposing the decision to hand over the project to HPPTCL, had written to the government that that project would lose the budgetary support of Rs 325 crore if the project was taken away from the distribution company.
