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Larji Hydro Electric Project inaugurated

SHIMLA: The much awaited and controversial 126 MW Larji Hydro Project made by the State Electricity Board was formally inaugurated by the Chief Minister Vibhadra Singh in Thalout area of Mandi district here on Sunday. The State Power Minister Vidya Stokes and other Congress leaders were also present on the occasion.

Mr. Singh said the project would yield an annual revenue of Rs. 180 crore and would be able to recover the construction cost in around 8 years.

He said his government had ensured sufficient funds for the completion of the project.

The Larji project took three years more than the specified deadline and almost double the cost as estimated in the beginning. It has come out as one of the costliest projects made anywhere in the country that took more than Rs 10 crore per megawatt for completion. The total cost incurred was Rs 1270 crore.

Massive financial bungling and gross irregularities were pointed out by the State Electricity Regularity Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor General reports during the execution of thes project. Vigilance cases were also registered against senior engineers and officers were booked for irregularities.

Mr. Singh on the occasion said the hill State has vast hydel potential and potential of about 21,000 MW had been identified, of which 6,370 MW had been harnessed and projects with 5,700 MW capacity were targeted for completion in coming 7-8 years. The remaining projects were allotted for execution by floating global tenders.

He said that some projects had been allotted recently to the private companies and his Government had made it mandatory to bidding IPPs to deposit the upfront premium per MW with the State government before taking up the execution work of the allotted project.

Mrs. Vidya Stokes claimed that Himachal Electricity Board is earning highest revenue in the country and that the Board would be adding more power to the grid.

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Larji Hydro Electric Project inaugurated

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