New Delhi: The 2000 MW Lower Subansiri Hydro power project along Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border is all set for commissioning by August next year as the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) has started the final excavation and installation of technical gadgets at the project site.
Tagged as India's biggest hydro power project, it has already witnessed a cost overrun of Rs 13211.01 crore which is 210.18 percent hike from its original costs of Rs 6258.33 crore. The project is a run of the river scheme being developed by the NHPC.
A senior official in the Power Ministry told ETV Bharat that the final installation of low/medium voltage system (SSTs and SSB) (4×1500 AH battery bank) and associated equipment including oil filtration plant and lift has recently started.
"Towards timely completion of the mega hydro power project, the activities of erection of trunnion in S-3 bay of dam and trash rack of intake gate number 4 has also been started," the official said. The Subansiri project will have eight units with each unit having 250 MW power generating capacity.
Construction of the project which started in 2005, already registered a time overrun of 156 months as the original commissioning time was 2009-11. Elaborating on the reasons behind the delay, the official said that delay in transfer of forest land, slope failure in power house in January 2008, as well as disruption of works by locals in Arunachal Pradesh were some of the reasons which posed a stumbling block for the mega power project.
"Ironically, all works except safety works were stalled from December 2011 to October 2019, due to the agitation launched by anti-dam activists in Assam against construction of the project," the official said. However, the construction work resumed from October 2019.
Including 2000 MW Subansiri project, the power ministry official said, there are total 13 hydro electric projects of 7368.00 MW being developed in the central sector by the central public sector undertakings (CPSUs) including NHPC, NTPC, THDC, NEEPCO, CVPPL and SJVNL. "Of these 13 projects, 11 HEPs are under active construction while the construction for two projects namely Ratle project in J&K and Lata Tapovan project in Uttarakhand are held up," the official said.
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