Indian state-owned hydropower producer, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), has been awarded a 70-year concession for the 780 MW Jangi-Thopan-Powari plant by the Government of the northern state of Himachal Pradesh. The project, on the river Satluj in the district of Kinnaur, is to be developed on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis, SJVN said in a press release on 25 November.
The development of the project has been held up for the past 12 years by a legal dispute resulting from a failed tender held in 2006. The project rights were first awarded to Brakel, the winner of a tender, but cancelled in 2009 after it failed to pay the upfront premium. Reliance Power then sought the rights on the grounds that it was the second highest bidder and went as far as petitioning the Supreme Court. In August 2016 it was allotted the rights but then declined to take up the offer.
SJVN, a joint venture between the central Government and the state Government of Himachal Pradesh, was awarded the rights to develop the 66 MW Dhaulasidh hydropower project by the state government of Himachal Pradesh in May this year (see H&D Issue 4, 2018). The run-of-river project, which will be located on the river Beas, is to be developed on a build, own, operate, maintain (BOOM) basis.
