March 5, 2002
'28'
290 MW ALMATTI DAM POWER PROJECT IN KARNATAKA TO PROCEED ON FAST TRACK
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has accorded techno-economic clearance to the 290 MW Almatti Dam Power House planned on the toe of the existing Almatti Dam on Krishna River in Bagalkot district of Karnataka. The project is finally set to take off on fast track after remaining bogged down in inter-state water disputes for considerable time. Almatti Dam Power House is part of the Upper Krishna multi-purpose project for irrigation, flood control and power generation with irrigation of drought prone Bijapur, Raichur and Gulbarga districts of Karnataka as its focus. While the dams and canals for irrigation had been built, Karnataka had proposed to raise the water reservoir level from 509 metres to 524.2 metres with the objective of enhancing power generation, but this was contested by Andhra Pradesh. The matter was finally settled in April 2000 by the Supreme Court order which restricted the full water reservoir level to 519.6 metres and imposed a cap of 173 trillion metre cubes per annum, on total water utilisation by Karnataka. Further, it is to be ensured by the developer of the Almatti Dam Power House, M/s.Karnataka Power Coproration Ltd. (KPCL), that water is released to Andhra Pradesh as per the working table approved by Technical Advisory Committee of Ministry of Water Resources. In line with the Supreme Court orders, it has been stipulated in the techno-economic clearance issued by CEA that no physical capacity will be created to store water above 519.6 metre level at Almatti Dam.
The power house project had a chequered history as it changed hands from KPCL to private developers in 1992 when the Government of Karnataka signed MOU with the Asia Power Corporation Ltd. The project then went to a joint venture consortium under Chamundi Power Corporation Ltd., which eventually came up with a revised project report after the Supreme Court judgement of April, 2000 for setting up 297 MW Almatti Dam Power House at an estimated cost of Rs.1469.8 crore, but the cost was not acceptable to CEA. Finally, the project has been handed back to KPCL and approved by CEA at an estimated completed cost of Rs.674 crore including interest during construction and financing cost of Rs.106 crore thus achieving substantial savings in the project capital cost. Apart from low capital cost, short gestation period of 29 to 37 months and no environmental or ecological impact are also the redeeming features of the project, which will help in mitigating energy and peaking power shortages in Karnataka.