Hyderabad: In its push to green energy, the Telangana government has decided to expand its focus to other states. As part of its first initiative, the state is planning to take up hydroelectric projects in Himachal Pradesh under the Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) model.
On Thursday, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who also serves as the energy minister, along with Energy Department Principal Secretary Sandeep Kumar Sultania, held discussions with Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu in Delhi, Times of India reported.
Hydro power projects in Himachal Pradesh get a boost
This follows an invitation from Himachal Pradesh to submit proposals for 22 hydroelectric projects. A team of senior officials from Telangana’s energy department had previously visited Himachal Pradesh, engaging with the state’s power department and inspecting the SELI HEP (400 MW) and MIYAR HEP (120 MW) project sites. Based on their assessment, they recommended focusing on projects with a potential capacity of more than 100 MW, the report said.
During Thursday’s meeting, the Deputy CM formally expressed Telangana’s interest in the SELI HEP (400 MW) and MIYAR HEP (120 MW) projects by submitting a letter. Vikramarka also requested Himachal Pradesh to send a draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) for further review. Officials noted that the hydropower generated from these projects will be used to meet Telangana’s current and future electricity demands.
“This hydropower generation is a significant step forward in Telangana’s ongoing efforts to boost generation capacity and meet the state’s growing energy needs,” said the Deputy CM.
Officials mentioned that if the Himachal Pradesh plan meets its objectives, the state may consider similar projects in other states as well.
Telangana to get 2,000-bed multispecialty hospital
On Friday, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy laid the foundation stone for the new building of the state-run Osmania General Hospital (OGH). The new hospital complex, to be built on 26 acres of land, will feature a 2,000-bed capacity spread across 32 lakh square feet of space.
