Pacts inked for hydro project construction

Shimla, August 27

An agreement for the construction of the 500 mw Dugar Hydroelectric Project and the 42 mw Baggi Hydroelectric Project was signed in the presence of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur here late last evening.

Director, Energy, Harikesh Meena signed the agreement on behalf of the government while NHPC General Manager (Power) Suresh Kumar and Secretary of the BBMB Satish Kumar Singla were the signatories on behalf of their enterprises.

The Dugar project would be constructed by the NHPC in Killar of Chamba district and the Baggi project by the BBMB in Baggi of Mandi district.

The Chief Minister said the estimated cost of the Dugar project was Rs 3,987.34 crore. About Rs 59.81 crore would be contributed by the project developer under the Local Area Development Fund in the project affected area. He said the construction would be completed in 71 months.

The project was allotted to the NHPC on August 7, 2018, and the MoU was signed on September 26, 2019. The Centre gave the technical approval to the detailed project report on April 26, 2022.

Thakur said the estimated cost of the Baggi project was Rs 284.87 crore and Rs 4.21 crore would be contributed by the project developer under the Local Area Development Fund. The construction of the project would be completed in 30 months. The Baggi project was allotted to the BBMB on July 10, 2019, and the MoU was signed on November 8, 2019.

In the implementation contract of the projects, a provision has been made to provide 12 per cent free electricity to the government from the Baggi project and 4 to 25 per cent from the Duggar project for 70 years.