Shimla: A six member team of World Bank executives, last week, met senior government functionaries here and showed renewed interest in funding hydro projects in Himachal, even as agreements for funding the 412 MW Rampur project by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, a Himachal government and India government joint venture company, have just firmed up.The team members included Judith Plummer, Darwil Field, Assendro (Dam Safety Expert), UB Reddy, Tapas Paul and Rohit Mittal.
Before the elections to the state assembly were announced, funding of hydro projects were part of the discussion that chief minister Virbhadra Singh held with executives of the World Bank when he had visited the banks headquarter at Washington in the first week of October.
Having failed to secure state equity in the 2100 MW Parbati projects and the 800 MW Kol Dam project being executed by National Hydroelectric Power Corp (NHPC) and National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC), the state has floated its own entity Himachal Power Corporation and have been allotted the 402 MW Shong-Tong Karchham, 243 MW Kashang and the 100 MW Sainj projects for execution.
On recommendation of the union ministry of power, the Asian Development Bank has already agreed to fund the three projects. Government sources revealed the World Bank has put a competitive financing offer to fund the same projects.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
