India’s central power ministry has started a programme to develop small hydro stations in the four states of Sikkim, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

The programme has been spearheaded by the Minister of Power, Dr E A S Sharma, who has discussed potential projects with power experts and state governments.

In response, the government of Himachal Pradesh has brought forward nine projects and the government of Bihar has suggested four others.

The projects, to be developed by India’s National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC), will be handed over to the state governments upon completion.

Funding is partly through the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources and partly through loans raised by NHPC. The costs of development will be reimbursed to NHPC by the state governments when they take over the stations.