Dear Friends/Co-sailors,
For my today’s pick section of the blog, I paste below a
news published in Times of India that shows how Bhutan wants to be India’s
hydel plant destroying its serene ecology.
India’s thirst for ecologically destructive energy grips
Bhutan and the Asian Development Bank is a party to this script of destruction.
With lack of proper environmental legislations and regulatory
mechanisms, Bhutan; its people and ecology will fall prey to this destructive
jaw of power.
There is an urgent need for intervention of environmental
organisations and individuals in taking up a regional initiative to check this
destruction.
Thanks and regards,
Ranjan
============
Bhutan seeks to be India's hydel plant
Surojit Gupta, TNN | Jan 6, 2014
DAGANA: Giant cranes scoop out mud from deep inside the
mountains. Frenetic construction activity is on as a state-run company in this
tiny landlocked Himalayan country races to complete one of the crucial
hydropower plants.
Workers at the site of the Dagachu hydropower plant are busy
giving final touches to the project which is expected to go on stream by the
middle of 2014.
The 126 megawatt plant is the first under the
public-private-partnership model and has already connected 9,000 rural
households in Bhutan. The plant, located in the remote Dagachu river, has been
built under the PPP model and is the first foreign direct investment for the
Himalayan country.
This is also the world's first cross-border clean
development mechanism (CDM) project. The CDM allows emission reduction projects
in developing countries to earn certified emission reduction credits and these
can be traded and sold to meet part of the emission reduction targets under the
Kyoto protocol.
The state-run Druk Green Power Corporation holds 59%, the
Pension and Provident Fund of Bhutan 15% and the Tata Power Company 26% in the
project. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is the lead financier and has
provided $80 million for the project along with funding from an Austrian
commercial bank.
Bhutan is banking on hydropower exports to India to revive
the fortunes of its faltering economy. Several large projects are underway and
companies such as Jaypee, Larsen & Toubro and Gammon India are taking part
in the massive construction underway.
"At this stage of development, we are highly dependent
on exploiting the water resources of Bhutan," said Sonam Tshering,
Bhutan's secretary of economic affairs.
The urgency for building hydropower plants in the
picture-postcard country is palpable.
Bhutan is grappling with a large current account deficit
estimated at 20% of its gross domestic product. The sale of electricity from
these projects to a ready-and-captive market in India will help it earn
precious foreign exchange to sustain its economy. New Delhi has lent a helping
hand and, in turn, will receive steady supplies to meet its growing energy
needs.
"The best part of the hydel power development in Bhutan
is that hydro power projects are all funded by the Government of India through
a very generous combination of grants and loans," said Nam Dorji, Bhutan's
finance secretary.
In 2010, electricity exports from Bhutan to India amounted
to 5.579 kilowatt hour, helping the country earn about $223 million, according
to ADB data.
India and Bhutan signed a pact in 2008 to develop hydropower
projects in the country and about 10,000 megawatt power would be exported to
India by 2020.
The development of such projects augurs well for the region.
"Regional trade in energy can help send energy from places that have
excess, such as Bhutan, to countries in need of energy like India, optimizing
the region's energy resources," ADB said.
"The recently established India-Bangladesh transmission
line could ultimately allow energy to go from Bhutan to Bangladesh," the multi-lateral
agency said.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Bhutan-seeks-to-be-Indias-hydel-plant/articleshow/28449771.cms
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