The increasing prices of oil, gas and coal in the international markets have again underscored the importance and desirability of development of hydro power. According to the CEA, the hydro power generation potential in India, based on identified sites, is almost 150,000 MW. The actual installed capacity (about 28,500 MW) is less than one-fifth of this potential. Even with 14,000 MW “under construction”, the hydro potential remains sorely underutilised.

To be sure, the government has developed some very ambitious plans and initiatives. In 2003, the then prime minister announced an initiative to achieve 50,000 MW of new capacity. The Eleventh Plan calls for addition of 21,000 MW of hydro power. The Twelfth Plan calls for another 24,000 MW of hydro capacity addition.
These are not easy targets to achieve. Hydro projects can prove to be especially difficult to implement in a time-bound fashion. There are issues relating to local government concerns, environmental impact and community relocation/rehabilitation that are often beyond the control of the project developer. In the Tenth Plan, for example, the target for hydro capacity addition was over 12,000 MW. The capacity added so far is only about 5,000 MW. Under the best-case scenario, we may achieve just over 9,000 MW. This is despite considerable improvement in the performance of the central public sector units and the entry of private players.

The mission of this conference is to discuss and debate important questions and topics like:

- How do we ensure that we meet the targets in the future?
- Do we have adequate project management resources at the central public sector units?
- How can we better address the local community and environment concerns?
- What are the other key hurdles, impediments and issues?
- Can we depend upon the contribution from private developers?
- How do we ensure enthusiastic participation of the state governments?
- Can the financial structuring be further improved?
- What is the status of the current projects? What is the outlook of the different stakeholders?
- Can technology provide some of the answers?

The conference will have at least seven distinct sessions: View from the Top, Update on Key Projects, Issues and Solutions, Private Viewpoint, State Perspective, Technology Showcase and Financial Structuring.
The event will be addressed by the Secretary, Ministry of Power and other top officials.

The speakers at our previous two conferences on "Hydro Power in India" included R V Shahi (Secretary, Ministry of Power), A K Kutty (Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power), Yogendra Prasad (former CMD, NHPC), C P Jain (CMD, NTPC), S C Sharma (CMD, NEEPCO), Y N Apparao (former CMD, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam), R K Sharma (CMD, THDC), Sunil Khatri (Joint Secretary, MNES), Awadh B Giri (CMD, Uttaranchal Jal Vidyut Nigam), Shyam Wadhera (Director, Projects, PFC), D Majumdar (Director, IREDA), H D Khuntetha (ED, NHPC), J N Gaur (Managing Director, Jaiprakash Hydropower), L V Nagarajan (MD, KPCL), S Chandrasekhar (MD, Bhorukha Power), Mukul Kasliwal (Director, Shree Maheshwar Hydel), Vikram Rajadhyaksha (Chairman, Dodson Lindblom) and Somak Ghosh (Director, Rabo India).

The participating organisations included ABB, AEC, Alstom, AP Genco, BBMB, BHEL, Bhoruka Power, BNP Paribas, BHPC, BSEB, CES, Dodson Lindblom, DSP Merrill Lynch, Electrowatt-Ekono, Elkem, Erinco, Exide, Fieldstone Capital, Gammon Infrastructure, GEB, GMR, Grasim, GVK Industries, Halcrow, Haskoning, Hindustan Construction, HPSEB, ICICI, IL&FS, ICTC, Indian Explosives, IREDA, JP Industries, Kerala Small Hydro, KfW, KJMC Global, KPTCL, Lanco Group, L&T, Malana Power, NTPC, NHDC, NHPC, OHPC, PFC, REC, Satluj Jal Vidyut, SBI Caps, Schwing Stetter, Skanska, SIDBI, Tata Power, Tehri Hydro, Texmaco, TNEB, Indian Hume Pipe, UTI Bank, UPJVN, Vishal Hydrowind, Voith Siemens Hydro, etc.

The delegate fee is $500 for one participant, $750 for two, $1000 for three and $1250 for four. There is also a 20 per cent “early bird discount” for those registering before January 3, 2006.