The Central government has aimed at adding 1,190 MW hydropower capacity in 2019. The capacity addition will take the total capacity to more than 50,000 MW. In 2018, the government had targeted hydel capacity addition of 840 MW but it managed to achieve only 140 MW.
In 2019, North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) aims at adding the highest capacity of 600 MW at Kameng Hydel Power project in Arunachal Pradesh. The government of Himachal Pradesh will be adding another 211 MW in the state. These will include three units of 33.33 MW by the Beas Valley Power Corporation (BVPCL) and three units of 37 MW by the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation (HPPCL).
Three private sector companies are also scheduled to add around 379 MW. These are GMR Group’s Bajoli Holi project in Himachal Pradesh with a total capacity of three x 60 MW, Larsen & Toubro’s Singoli Bhatwari project in Uttarakhand with a total capacity of two x 33 MW and Sorang hydel project with a proposed capacity of two x 50 MW at Uttarakhand.
India is likely to cross the 50 GW installed capacity mark in July 2019 if NEEPCO manages to commission its proposed Unit-1 and 2 of the Kameng Hydel Power project. These are to have a generation capacity of 150 MW each and are scheduled to be commissioned in July 2019. It is slated to start commercial operation in August 2019.
At present, the largest hydel generation capacity is in North India at 19.7 GW followed by South at 11.77 GW. West India has a total installed capacity of around 7.55 GW followed by east at 4.94 GW.