Rampur: Luhri project to see light of day by ‘2026’

Our Correspondent

Rampur, April 1

The 210-MW Luhri hydropower project, which is under construction, will be ready by January 2026. For this, a target has been set by fixing the responsibilities of all the officials. This information was given by Sunil Chaudhary, head of the project, during a press conference at the project headquarters, Bithal. He said the projects whose foundation stones had been laid by the Prime Minister were continuously monitored by the Prime Minister’s Office and for this a separate wing had been established in the PMO.

Loss incurred due to disruptions

Due to the protests by workers, farmers and various disruptions at the project construction site, the project had to suffer a loss of Rs 1.5 crore daily, resulting in the delay of the construction work. Besides, the companies engaged in construction were paid separate compensation for the stoppage of their machinery and other work. — Sunil Chaudhary, Project head

He said due to the protests by workers, farmers and various disruptions at the project construction site, the project had to suffer a loss of Rs 1.5 crore daily, resulting in the delay of the construction work. Besides, the companies engaged in construction were paid separate compensation for the stoppage of their machinery and other work. He added that so far an amount of Rs 15 to 20 crore has been given to the companies as compensation for such losses.

Sunil Chaudhary, said the construction of the Luhri hydropower project was started in 2020 and the target of completion was set for January 2026 despite natural disasters and the Covid pandemic. He added that whether it was the concern of local residents about pollution or cracks in the houses or other issues, the builder had completed the project without any delay at his level. Whatever deadlock was there related to the liabilities, it was being given as soon as the nod was given by the Himachal Pradesh Government on the basis of assessments or reports.

There was no negligence or case pending on part of the SJVN or the project developers. He added that out of the total excavation of 21, 63,000 cubic meters of the project, 66 per cent of the excavation work had been completed. He said by the time the project was completed, the project construction cost was expected to reach more than Rs 2,700 crore, compared to the earlier estimated Rs 1,890 crore.

He said the cost of power generation from the Luhri hydroelectric project was around Rs 4.53 per unit. He also claimed that 98 per cent of the employees working on the project were from Himachal Pradesh, including 93 per cent of locals. He said the target of the project construction was set for January 2026 and its reports were regularly sent from the PMO to the Ministry of Power.

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