CESC enters hydel with Arunachal Pradesh plant

CESC Ltd, the RPG Group power utility which is mainly into thermal power, is foraying into the hydel segment.

The company is setting up the Jarong Hydro Electricity project in West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, RPG Group’s vice chairman Sanjiv Goenka said.

“The estimated cost of the project is around `630 crore, which would be funded with a debt-equity ratio of 7:3. The entire equity part will come through internal accruals,” Goenka said on Tuesday.

He said the project will be located near a village close to the Indo-Tibetan border. The plant will produce 90 megawatt power from the water flow in rivers Siyom, Shir and other tributaries.

“About 12% of the power generated from the project will be given free of cost to Arunachal Pradesh government for its development. As the project is planned as a run-of- river scheme, no submergence of local habitation is involved,” Goenka said.

The remaining 88% will either go to the merchant market or the CESC grid or the Greater Noida grid.

According to Goenka, the company expects to achieve the financial closure within 15 to 18 months and complete commissioning of the project within four years from then. “The environmental clearance is awaited,”

Goenka said. CESC is eyeing  hydel projects in northern and northeastern India. “All our hydel projects will have a minimum capacity of 70 mw. We would like to achieve a total hydel production of 500 mw in the next seven years,” he said.