Question : PENDING POWER PROJECTS



(a) whether several power projects are pending/suffering due to non- accordance, delayed accordance of environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests;

(b) if so, the details thereof, project-wise and State-wise including the North-Eastern States;

(c) the steps taken by the Union Government to accord early environment clearance to pending power projects;

(d) whether the Union Government has provided any financial assistance under the Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (RAPDRP) to the State Governments including the North-Eastern States; and

(e) if so, the details thereof?

Answer given by the minister



THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL AND NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL )

(a) & (b): Thirty numbers of Hydro Electric Projects (HEPs) with an aggregate installed capacity of 20948 MW, with concurrence accorded by CEA are awaiting environment and forest clearances by Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF). Out of this, seventeen numbers of HEPs aggregating to 17934 MW are located in North Eastern Region. The details are given at Annex.

In respect of Thermal Power Projects, there is no major issue pertaining to clearance by MoEF and therefore, there is no thermal power project pending / delayed due to non accordance of Environmental Clearance from MoEF.

As regards transmission line projects, they have been kept out of the purview of different Pollution Law and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, except in three districts viz. Alwar in Rajasthan and Gurgaon & Mewat in Haryana. As per the MoEF Notification dated 29th November, 1999, power has been given to Expert Committee in each State and hence there is no necessity to forward the cases to MoEF.

Only one transmission project is pending in Haryana and the detail is given as under:

 
Sl. Name of the Project/(Location) Brief history of issues No pending with State Government
1. Transmission System for Phase-I Proposal submitted on July Generation Projects in Jharkhand and 05, 2013 to State Govt. West Bengal (part B)
(1) Kanpur-Jhatikara 765kV S/C Line is passing through Gurgaon/Nuh- Mewat district of Haryana

(c): The status of Environment clearance for Power Projects is being monitored regularly by Ministry of Power (MoP). Regular inter-Ministerial consultation and interaction is also held by MoP with MoEF for expediting the clearances.

(d) & (e): Yes, Madam. Government of India is having Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP) under which funding is provided to State/Discoms. The focus of the programme is on actual, demonstrable performance in terms of sustained loss reduction, establishment of reliable and automated system for collection of accurate base line data, the adoption of Information Technology (IT) in the areas of energy accounting are necessary pre-conditions before sanctioning any project.

The details of financial assistance provided under RAPDRP to State Government including the North Eastern States are as follows:

(I) Under Part-A of R-APDRP, 1412 projects at an estimated cost of Rs 5347.38 Crores have been approved for 30 States/UTs (Chandigarh and Pondicherry) and Rs 2495.61 Crores have been disbursed till date.


(ii) Under SCADA projects for 72 towns of 19 states have also been sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs 1601.28 Crores and Rs 416.20 Crores have been disbursed.

(III) Under Part-B of R-APDRP, 1244 projects at an estimated cost of Rs 31139.48 Crores have been approved for 26 States and Rs 4272.03 Crores have also been disbursed.

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