Power corporation mulls transmission masterplan
Jagdish Bhatt | TNN

Shimla: With 78 sq km of forest land having been lost to various developmental works — including roads, cement plants and hydel power projects — undertaken in the state from 1980 onwards, the newly-formed HP Power Transmission Corporation (HPPTC) in cooperation with the state electricity board is mulling a transmission masterplan for tapping of electricity from various hydel power projects that are coming up in the state, private and joint sector in the state.
HPPTC managing director Jagdish Sharma said, “With a number of hydel power projects on the anvil in various river basins of the state, all requiring transmission lines to evacuate power from the location of the hydel power projects, a lot of forest land will be used for laying the transmission lines, besides causing a network of overhead lines which will create problems for both tourism and civil aviation industry.
He said, to overcome this problem, it was being envisaged that a single transmission line be laid down in a particular river basin and all power players use it for tapping of power.
It will not only save valuable forest land, but will also reduce transmission and distribution losses, which will also result in reduction in the cost of hydel power projects, he added.
Sharma said additional chief secretary Avay Shumla had already taken up the issue and had convinced the Allain Duhangan project in the Beas basin that their evacuation line be used by other power producers as well who would be setting up their projects in the basin.