MoUs inked for 13 mega hydro projects in Arunachal Pradesh to generate 13,000MW power: Union Minister

The government is going ahead with the power projects despite concerns by environmentalists about possible adverse impact

Guwahati: Arunachal Pradesh government has signed MoUs with central public sector undertakings to construct 13 hydro power projects likely to generate 13,000MW of power and draw investment worth Rs 1.4 lakh crores, Union power, new and renewable energy R K Singh said.

Singh said this on Monday after visiting the site where construction of 2000 MW Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric project situated along Assam-Arunachal Pradesh is underway despite concerns about possible adverse impact.

“These projects will bring in investment of around Rs. 1.4 lakh crores to Arunachal Pradesh, resulting in quadrupling of per capita income. And the nation will get clean power. Similarly, five hydel projects are under construction in Jammu & Kashmir; hence, our hydro potential in J&K too is moving ahead and a lot of investment is coming in," said an official statement quoting Singh on Tuesday.

The disclosure about the new hydroelectric projects is significant in view of concerns expressed by environmentalists about possible adverse impact of big dams and hydropower projects in the ecologically sensitive Himalayan region including Arunachal Pradesh. Several groups in both Arunachal Pradesh and Assam also demanded dismantling of such projects in order to prevent possible adverse impact in the downstream areas in Assam.

The concerns grew after a massive landslide blocked the diversion tunnels in the Lower Subansiri project in October and before too.

Singh, however, inspected the Subansiri project construction sites including the dam, intake structures and diversion tunnels.

"I went into all the details and I believe that by and large, the project is progressing as it should. The importance of hydro projects has increased since we need to make energy transitions, reduce emissions and move to renewables. While we have solar and wind too among renewables, round-the-clock renewable energy is not possible without hydro. Our hydro capacity is increasing.” One of the units of the project is likely to be inaugurated soon.

The Minister also said efforts were underway to tap into the available hydro power capacity of the country. “Today, our hydro power capacity is 47,000 MW, which is 35% of our available hydro power potential. Developed countries, however, have utilized around 70%."

Singh said power demand in the country is growing and hence there is a need for addition of power capacity at a fast pace. “Our power demand grew by 20% in August, September and October 2023, relative to the previous year. Our demand will keep growing at this rate, since according to NITI Aayog, our economy will keep growing at 7.5% for the next two decades. The peak demand in 2013 was around 1.35 lakh MW, while today it is around 2.31 lakh MW. Our power demand will double by 2030; our total consumption today is 1,600 billion units, which will become around 3,000 billion units. However, even now, our power consumption is low compared to developed countries; Europe’s per capita power consumption is around 3 times that of ours today. Our challenge hence is to add power capacity as fast as the growth in our power demand.”