India About To Get It's Largest Hydropower Plant, But Environment Concerns Loom Large
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved Rs 1600 crore expenditure on pre-investment activities and various clearances for Dibang Multipurpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh. The estimat
In the largest ever hydro electric project to be constructed in the country, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved Rs 1600 crore expenditure on pre-investment activities and various clearances for 2,880 Mega Watt Dibang Hydropower Project in Arunachal Pradesh.
An official statement said that the estimated total cost of the project is Rs 28080.35 crore and the project is estimated to be completed in nine years time from the receipt of government sanction, a report in The ET Bureau said.
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With 278 metres in height, the dam will be highest dam in India once completed.
The project is located in Lower Dibang Valley District of Arunachal Pradesh located on the river Dibang. The project will give 12% free power from the project to the government of Arunachal Pradesh and one percent of free power will be given to Local Area Development FUND (LADF).
The total value of benefit to Arunachal Pradesh from free power and contribution to LADF will be Rs 26785 crore and this will be over the project life of 40 years. The project is seen as a storage based hydro-electric project with flood moderation as the main objective. The project will prevent the sizeable downstream area from floods.
Due to opposition by the locals, the project got delayed as the foundation of the project was laid by former PM Manmohan Singh in 2008. The hydro-power projects have faced opposition from the locals in various states where the projects are located.
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The statement also said that the Dibang Multipurpose Project will also contribute to protect sizeable area from flooding as once the master plan of Brahmaputra Board for flood moderation of all rivers contributing to Brahmaputra is implemented of which the Dibang MPP is also a component.
The statutory clearances including environment clearances, forest clearance (Stage-1) is being given. The Investment Sanction for forest clearance (Stage-II) is yet to come from the central government.
