New Delhi: The Chenab River has successfully been diverted at the Ratle Hydro Electric Project to expedite the construction of a dam in Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Ministry of Power stated here today.
The successful diversion of the Chenab River through diversion tunnels at Drabshalla in Kishtwar district was achieved at 11.30 a.m. on January 27, 2024, the Ministry informed.
The Chenab River diversion will enable the isolation of the dam area at the river bed for starting the critical activity of excavation and construction of the dam. It will expedite project construction activities and help minimise delays to facilitate all efforts being made by the project to meet the scheduled commissioning date of May 2026.
The Ratle Project is being executed by Ratle Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited (RHPCL), a Joint Venture of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Limited and the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, with a shareholding of 51:49 per cent, respectively.
The Ratle HE project is situated on River Chenab in Kishtwar District of J&K with an installed capacity of 850 MW.
To make the project viable, the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will extend the exemption from levy of Water Usage Charges for 10 years after the commissioning of the project, reimbursement of the State’s share of GST (i.e. SGST) and waiver of free power to J&K in a decremental manner. This means that the free power to the Union Territory would be 1% in the 1st year after the commissioning of the project and rising @1% per year to 12% in the 12th year.
The sanction of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs was accorded to the project by the Government of India in January 2021, at a total cost of Rs. 5281.94 crores. Jammu and Kashmir would benefit as it gets free power worth Rs. 5289 crore and through the levy of Water Usage Charges worth Rs.9581 crore from the Ratle Hydro Electric Project, during a project life cycle of 40 years.
– global bihari bureau
