ADB to sanction USD 300 mn loan to Uttarakhand: Vijay Bahuguna

DEHRADUN: The Asian Development Bank has decided to extend a loan of USD 300 million to Uttarakhand to help the state government accelerate work on power generation and transmission projects, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has said.

At a review meeting with power department officials here yesterday, Bahuguna said the ADB loan will be disbursed in phases and asked them to take up power generation and transmission work across the state on a large scale with the amount through Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd (PTCUL) and Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (UJVNL).

PTCUL MD S S Yadav said the corporation would strengthen the transmission system at a cost of Rs 1,464 crore. He said PTCUL was setting up a 400 KV substation at Srinagar which would provide electricity in Alakananda River valley area.

A 400 KV sub station is being set up at Pipalkoti using GIS technique, he said adding a 150-km line from Srinagar to Kashipur is also being installed.

A 220 KV, a132 and a 33 KV stations will be set up in Dehradun by May this year, Yadav said.

MD of UJVNL J P Patel said five mini hydropower projects were being set up by the Nigam namely Kaliganga 1(2x2 MW), Kaliganga 2 (2x3MW), Sobla 1 (2x4MW),Madhmaheshwar (3x5MW), Kaldigar (2x4.5 MW).

Kaliganga 1 has already started production while all the others will be completed by December 2015, he said.