Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has officially inaugurated the 330MW Kishanganga hydroelectric project in a ceremony on 19 May, and has laid the Foundation Stone of the Pakal Dul power project in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).
Located in the Bandipora District of J&K, Kishanganga is a run of river scheme. All units of the project were sychronised on 30 March 2018 and the annual generation of the main project is 1712.96 MU. The project has cost around Rs. 5882 crore.
A 37m high dam has been built at Gurez for the project, with a 23.3km long diversion tunnel partly excavated by a Tunnel Boring Machine.
With 1000MW capacity, Pakal Dul will be the largest hydropower project and the first storage scheme in J&K on completion.
Pakal Dul is expected to cost Rs. 8112.12 crore and is supported by the Government of India as well as the Government of J&K. The project is expected to take 66 months to complete from start of construction.
The project will employ around 3000 people directly/ indirectly during the construction phase of the project, with 500 employed during the operation phase.
The project will feature a 167m high concrete faced rockfill dam, two 9.6km long headrace tunnels each 7.2m in diameter, an underground powerhouse with 4x250MW turbines and four 125m long, 5.5m diameter tailrace tunnels.
