The Punjab government today made a strong case to allow the State to set up mini hydros on Bhakhra main line passing through the territory of Punjab that could harness 63.75 MW green power for the country.Making a strong plea, Punjab New & Renewable Energy Minister Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia in a meeting held at New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Mr. Piyush Goyal, Minister of State, Power, Coal and Renewable Energy, GOI , advocated that inter state disputes should not come in the way of having power from renewable sources especially when country was facing the scarcity of green power. He said that the proposal was already pending with GOI since long and the Minister should immediately issue directive to BBMB to give NoC so that Punjab can go ahead for setting up of mini hydro projects.Unveiling an ambitious plan to harness 250 MW from mini hydro projects, Mr. Majithia pointed out that by virtue of topography and irrigation canal network, Punjab has number of falls on the canals having small hydro potential but the available falls were in the category of low head. It varies from 0.3m to 3m only. The total number of installed SHPs/MHPs in the state was 43 having installed capacity of 135MW. In addition to the installed projects, 9 more projects having total capacity of 31.70 MW were at different stages of execution and were likely to be commissioned during year 2016 and 2017, he added.
Focusing on Mini hydels rather than on big hydel projects Mr. Majithia said that big hydel projects were difficult to be set up due to issues relating to land acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement.Lauding the role of Punjab as the torch bearer in the field of renewable energy, Mr. Piyush Goyal, Minister of State, Power, Coal and Renewable Energy, GOI said that Bhakhra, the first major hydel project harbingered the green revolution making India self sufficient on food security front. He also lauded the role of Punjab New & renewable Energy Minister Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia for infusing new energy in the field of renewable energy sector during the last four years in making Punjab frontline state, in generating green energy.