PTC signs pact for Tala project

NEW DELHI: PTC India has signed one of the big-ticket cross-border power purchase agreements (PPA) for 1,020-mw Tala hydro project. Located in the Wangchu basin in Bhutan, the project has been set up with financial support from India and would be the single-biggest revenue earner for the government of Bhutan. The power generated would benefit states connected to India’s eastern and northern grid.

As per the PPA that runs for a 35-year period, the initial tariff for power supply has been fixed at Rs 1.8 per unit. PTC India has already started wheeling power from the project into the country. Sonam Tsherring, director general at the department of energy in Bhutan, said: “Even as the formal agreement with PTC was signed on Thursday, power supply has already started into India. As part of the agreement, there would be a review of operational modalities every three years while for tariff increase it’s five years.”

The project has been put up at a cost of over Rs 4,000 crore. Funding for the project was provided by the government of India through 60:40 combination by way of grant and loan. On full commissioning, the project will bring in an output of over 4,000m units of electricity into India every year.