Need more hydel projects: R Chidambaram
Principal scientific advisor to the government, favoured the construction of hydel projects in the country in order to maintain the 8-10 per cent growth rate. There will be a meeting of the Ganga river basin authority to decide the fate of hydel projects on the Bhagirathi in Uttarakhand.
R Chidambram, pricncipal scientific advisor siad that “If we have to grow by 8-10 per cent, the industry, which is growth intensive, must also grow at a faster pace for which we need power from hydro, nuclear and all other resources.”
The hydel projects should be allowed to be built, he said in reply to a question on the controversial issue of constructing hydel projects on Bhagiarathi and other tributaries of the Ganga. Chidambram’s comments assume significance in view of recent decision by a group of union ministers to scrap two key hydel projects – 480 Mw Pala Maneri and 381 Mw Bhaironghati on Bhagirathi. However, a final decision on the issue is yet to be taken by the Ganga river basin authority.
Chidmabram also said the country would need 1 million Mw of power by 2050 in order to maintain the healthy growth rate of 8-10 per cent. Out of that, nearly half of the energy (around 0.5 million Mw) would come from nuclear projects. The country would go ahead with its ambitious programme to build more nuclear projects as uranium is now easily available from the foreign countries, he said.
Business Standard
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