The scheme along with bringing in Rs. 15,000 crore of investment in SHP would support 51 lakh person days of employment, especially benefitting North Eastern (NE) and hilly states having high SHP potential.
Key Features of the Scheme
- Duration and Capacity: FY 2026-27 to FY 2030-31 with an outlay of Rs.2584.60 crore for projects with approximate capacity of 1500 MW.
- Financial Assistance:
- NE & Border Areas: ₹3.6 crore/MW or 30% of project cost whichever is lower (upper limit of ₹30 crore/project).
- Other States: ₹2.4 crore/MW or 20% of project cost whichever is lower (upper limit of ₹20 crore/project).
- Detailed Project Report (DPR): Incentivize state and central government with an allocation of ₹30 crore towards ~200 DPR.
About Small Hydro Power (SHP) Projects
- Hydro Power plants with capacity of 25 MW or below are classified as Small Hydro in India.
- Could be either constructed on hill slopes utilizing small streams involving run of river type projects or on Canal Falls or Dam Toes.
- Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) looks after their development.
- Estimated Potential: 21133 MW from 7133 sites for power generation in India (IIT Roorkee.).
- Hilly States mainly Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand constitute around half of this potential.
- Classification (Depending on the capacity): Micro (up to 100 kW); Mini (101 kW to 2 MW) and Small Hydro (2 MW to 25MW).
