August 21 : Joint efforts would be made by the Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand Government to exploit available hydel potential besides cooperating each other in all matters of mutual interest. This was disclosed by Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh in a meeting held here last evening with his Uttarakhand counterpart Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal. Prof. Dhumal said that said that both the States had similar geographical similarities and also vast hydro potential in its river basins.
Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd. (SJVNL) would be undertaking execution of three hydro electric projects (HEP) in Uttarakhand and emerge as a partner in exploitation of hydro potential in the State.
252 MW Debsari, 60 MW Natwar Mori and 35 MW Utyashar projects have been allocated to SJVNL for execution in Uttarakhand and construction is likely to be started in near future. SJVNL had executed the biggest HEP, Nathpa Jhakri of 1500 MW in the State successfully and is contributing significantly towards the power requirements of the country.
He assured all possible help for exploitation of hydel potential to his counterpart so that Uttarakhand could also avail the expertise of the State.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal said that his Government was interested in entering into the joint venture for HEP and also in other sectors of public interest.
He evinced keen interest in the presentation given by SJVNL about the hydel potential being exploited by them in Uttarakhand.
Both the Chief Ministers also discussed other issues of mutual interest.
Shri H.K. Sharma, CMD, SJVNL gave presentation about the activities of the organization within and outside the country.
Shri Anurag Thakur, MP, Shri Yogendra Prasad, Chairman, Uttarakhand State Electricity Board, Shri R.S. Katoch, Director, Personnel, Shri R.P. Singh, Director Electrical, Shri N.L. Sharma, Executive Director, SJVNL and Shri K.K. Garg, Director Finance were prominent persons present amongst others.