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400 MW
Maheshwar Hydropower Project on the Narmada River is one of 30 large dams that are a part of the ambitious Narmada Valley Development Project.
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1994
year the project was handed over to S Kumars. It remains incomplete to date.
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Rs. 1,569 crore
original estimate of the project.
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Rs. 4,635 crore
cost of the project in September 2015 according to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
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Nov-2011
onwards, work has been suspended due to cash flow problems, noted the CEA.
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60,000
people in over 60 villages, affected by the project have not yet been rehabilitated.
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Rs. 499 crore
money brought in by the investors, including the promoters, have brought as equity, according to a meeting of the lenders that took place on 08-Sept-2015.
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Rs. 1815 crore
money brought in by lenders, which is close to 78% of the money spent so far, which begs the question, why this project was sought to be privatized in the first place. The major lenders are mostly public or government-owned financial entities as listed below.
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Rs. 700 crore
Power Finance Corporation
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Rs. 259 crore
HUDCO
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Rs. 250 crore
Rural Electrification Corporation
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Rs. 200 crore
State Bank of India
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May 2015
a committee formed in Oct 2014, proposed three possible scenarios to resolve the status-quo.
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#1
project promoter to bring in Rs 600 crore as equity and Rs 1200 crore of debt to complete the project within 90 days. S Kumars failed to do so.
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#2
Rs. 1800 to be brought in by any public sector operation. But with a upper limit to tariff for the electricity generated at Rs. 5.32 per unit, there are no takers.
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#3
Abandon the project. But with the dam already built, the river disrupted, the biota and ecosystem disturbed and people displaced and but will anyone be held accountable?