Benefit sharing in Hydropower projects in Himachal Pradesh
- 10hydropower projects
- 5river basins
Under this project, PSI’s team with support from ICIMOD (Kathmandu) assessed the benefit-sharing mechanisms for hydropower projects in Himachal Pradesh. It examined hydropower policies and their implementation and assessed whether revenue from hydropower generation accrued to project-affected communities with the perspective of local communities.
The state government and its departments along with power developers were also taken into consideration while examining the implementation. The study covered ten hydropower projects across five river basins, varying in capacity, commissioning period, design and ownership.
It included literature reviews, expert and activist consultations, field visits to build its findings. Sirmour, Shimla and Kangra districts of Himachal Pradesh were identified for fieldwork.
The research found that the 2006 Himachal Hydropower Policy’s provisions for local communities often fell short in practice due to administrative inaction by withholding of mandatory benefits. It also points out the illegal measures that are taken by the developers to quash the opposition and local politics, with small private developers performing worst.
