NHPC
NEW DELHI: The NHPC on Thursday said it was seeking an NOC from the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF&CC) for using assets of the Subansiri Lower project to raise secured debt in the future for other projects without offering forest land as collateral.The clarification followed reports that MoEF&CC had rejected its proposal to raise funds by keeping assets created on forest land in Arunachal Pradesh as collateral. The reports said NHPC had sought an NOC from Arunachal Pradesh govt, which, in turn, sought clarification from the ministry. The environment ministry rejected the proposal, saying it was “not tenable” under Forest Conservation Act, as use as collateral was a secondary purpose, beyond the principal objective for which the forest land had been approved.The NHPC clarified that the forest land was never offered as collateral to raise secured debt, as the nature of these parcels was “right to use only”. It added that most of the debt funding required for the Subansiri Lower project had already been deployed, with unit-wise commissioning starting from Dec 2025 onwards. It said there had been no impact on the balance funding required for the Subansiri Lower project and its commissioning was progressing as per schedule. Subansiri Lower is among eight new hydropower projects being executed by NHPC and its joint ventures and subsidiaries. With its 23 commissioned projects, NHPC currently generates 7,771 MW of hydropower.In reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Union power minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the eight new projects, coming up at a total cost of ₹98,107 crore, will add 8,514 MW of generation capacity.Apart from the Subansiri project, which will add 2,000 MW of capacity, the other upcoming projects are the Dibang multipurpose project (2,800 MW) in Arunachal Pradesh; Teesta-VI in Sikkim (500 MW); Rangit-IV (120 MW), a joint venture being implemented by JPCL in Sikkim; the Ratle project (850 MW) being implemented by RHPCL in Jammu & Kashmir; and the Pakal Dul (1,000 MW), Kiru (624 MW) and Kwar (540 MW) hydroelectric projects being implemented by CVPPL in Jammu & Kashmir.Khattar also mentioned in his reply that NHPC provides job opportunities to local people, including project-affected families, through contractors wherever it sets up plants, which generate local income and improve living standards. Moreover, bidding opportunities are provided to local residents and PAFs to promote local entrepreneurship and support local businesses, he said. For redressal of grievances, the govt has launched a Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System portal, under which complaints are examined and disposed of in a time-bound manner, he added.
