Government approves Rs 12,461 crore support for 31,350 MW hydropower projects

New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday approved an outlay of Rs 12,461 crore to support the development of 31,350 MW hydropower projects to be implemented over the next eight years.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Power for modification of the scheme of budgetary support for the cost of enabling infrastructure for Hydro Electric Projects (HEP) with a total outlay of Rs 12,461 crore, an official statement said.

According to the statement, the scheme will be implemented from FY2024-25 to FY2031-32.

The limit of the budgetary support for the cost of enabling infrastructure has been rationalised to Rs 1 crore per MW for projects up to 200 MW capacity and Rs 200 crore plus Rs 0.75 crore per MW for projects above 200 MW capacity.

For exceptional cases, the limit of budgetary support may go up to Rs 1.5 crore/MW provided sufficient justification exists.

The scheme has a total outlay of Rs 12,461 crore for cumulative generation capacity of about 31,350 MW to be implemented from FY 2024-25 to FY 2031-32, the statement said.

The scheme will be applicable to all Hydro Power Projects of more than 25 MW capacity, including the private sector projects, which have been allotted on a transparent basis.

This scheme will also be applicable to all Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) including Captive/Merchant PSPs, provided that the project has been allotted on a transparent basis. A cumulative PSP capacity of about 15,000 MW would be supported under the scheme, said the statement.