By IANS,
Kolkata: West Bengal is keen to take up a hydel power project in Bhutan and wants the central government’s help in this regard, a senior government official said here Wednesday.
“We want to set up a project, with our own investment, in Bhutan and we have asked the government of India to help us,” power secretary Sunil Mitra told reporters here.
West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Co (WBSEDCL) – a state government-run power distribution company – will be the nodal company to implement the project, Mitra said.
“WBSEDCL has made the proposal to the Bhutanese authorities, who have said this has to be through the bilateral framework through the government of India,” he said, adding: “Transmission-wise, it’s a next door neighbour. It makes sense.”
Mitra said about four hydel projects have been identified for that region, though the idea was to develop only one project with a capacity of 600 MW. “We have put them in order of priority and if the central government supports us for any of these, we will go for it.”
The power secretary said the state was keen on such a project as its own hydel power generation potential was limited. “We need to look outwards to set up hydel projects,” Mitra said.