Telangana keen to take up hydel projects in Himachal Pradesh

Himachal’s plans to attract investment from other state governments into hydro-power could yield positive results with Telangana evincing interest in investing in the hill state.

Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka called on Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today. He submitted a letter expressing his state’s interest in Seli, (400 MW) and Miyar (120 MW) hydel power projects. The Government of Telangana requested the Himachal Pradesh Government for a draft MOU in this regard so that the matter could be carried forward.

The Seli project is a run-of-the-river project, proposed on the Chenab river in Shulling village of Lahul Spiti. The Miyar project is also located in Chenab.

Earlier, in response to the invitation of the proposal of the state government for the implementation of 22 hydro electric projects on build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis from interested states/ union territories/state PSUs/ central PSUs, a team of senior officers of Power department of Telangana visited Himachal and held discussions with Secretary, Power, Rakesh Kanwar. The team also visited the sites of Seli and Miyar and recommended that interest could be expressed for sites with potential hydel projects.

“This step is a way forward in the process of exploring sources for generating more electricity and earning revenues for the state of Himachal Pradesh,” said the Chief Minister.

Himachal is hoping that other states too would show interest in getting into hydel power generation to meets their requirements, following directives from the Centre in this regards. Himachal has invited bids for allotting 22 hydel projects from other state governments from across the country, for which February 3, 2025 is the last date.

The Himachal Government is hopeful that some other states would also invest in the hydro-power sector in Himachal not only to meet its own requirement but also to generate revenue.