Shillong: In a significant move to bolster its power generation capacity, the Meghalaya cabinet has given its nod to infuse an additional Rs 30 crore to settle outstanding dues owed to contractors for the Ganol Stage-I Small Hydro Project in Tura. This fresh allocation pushes the total completion cost of the 22.5 MW project to Rs 590.88 crore, finally bringing the much-delayed initiative to fruition.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma confirmed the state’s commitment to a multi-pronged strategy for power generation. This includes a crucial decision to revive and re-engage with Athena Projects Private Limited for the long-stalled Kynshi Stage-I project. A fresh Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) will be inked with Athena, aiming to finally kickstart the project that has been in limbo for years. While initially envisioned as a 450 MW facility, technical assessments indicated a more realistic maximum viable capacity of 270 MW, which had previously created cost-related bottlenecks and stalled progress.
The Kynshi project had encountered numerous hurdles, with Athena initially showing reluctance due to the revised capacity and evolving economic landscape. Attempts to integrate pump storage and solar components into the project also did not materialise, following new central government guidelines that rendered such additions unviable for both the state and the company. Despite these complexities, the state government opted to proceed with Athena, acknowledging the considerable groundwork the company had already completed, including crucial environmental clearances and sustained community engagement over the years.
Further enhancing the state’s energy ambitions, the cabinet also approved Rs 14 crore for the upgrade of the Riangdo Small Hydro Project. This will see its capacity doubled from 3 MW to a more robust 6 MW. A comprehensive study by IIT Roorkee had affirmed the project’s expansion potential, which is expected to not only make the facility more economically viable but also significantly augment the Meghalaya Electricity Corporation Limited’s (MeECL) production capabilities.
In a forward-thinking move, the government has also given its go-ahead to two privately funded hydro projects that promise to provide free power to the state. The 24 MW Nongmer Small Hydro Project will operate under a public-private partnership model, where the state will procure 30 per cent of the generated power while simultaneously receiving an additional 12 per cent free of cost. Similarly, the 13.5 MW Umran project, identified by JMB Aqua Private Limited in the Umran Basin, received cabinet approval under an identical framework, promising further boosts to Meghalaya’s energy independence.
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