Itanagar, May 3: As Tawang continues to reel from the shock of yesterday's police firing that left two people, including a young monk, dead and eight injured following the arrest of a leader of an anti-large dam forum, Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Kalikho Pul was in New Delhi making the case for fast-tracking environmental clearances for hydropower projects.

Speaking at the conference Hydropower at the Crossroads - Tapping the Untapped, organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) in New Delhi, Pul said: "Hydropower would be developed in an optimal manner in which the environmental impact and human displacement would be reduced to the absolute minimal possible and positive outcomes are achieved in the shortest possible time."

There are 156 dams that have been planned to generate over 50,000MW. However, almost all projects are still in the planning stage and most are awaiting environmental clearances.

While experts and communities continue to argue the damages of these dams on environment, Pul today said that hydropower is the "only viable source for the resource-strapped state which could provide sustainable means of livelihood".

He added that the state government would involve all stakeholders and take residents into confidence and "dispel any misgivings that they may have on account of resettlement due to the hydropower projects".

Pul said the state was willing to relax entry tax to protect the interest of investors to create an "investor-friendly environment".

Seeking the support of financial institutions and the Centre, Pul said the Arunachal Pradesh government is willing to extend all necessary cooperation and assistance. "We will provide all support to private developers for installing and commissioning of hydropower plants with facilities of single-window clearance," Pul said.

"In a nation endowed with huge natural resources, particularly Arunachal Pradesh with its 58,000MW hydropower potential, this is but a natural choice," he said.

To fast-track clearance processes at the state level, he said all support to developers for installing and commissioning of hydropower plants with facilities of single window clearance would be provided. "All requirements of local coordination will be fast-tracked and we will ensure that there are no barriers to investors."

He, however, said that projects have been delayed due to long construction periods, lack of transport infrastructure, environmental concerns and geological risks, including environmental and other clearances.

The chief minister said clearances for cumulative impact studies and carrying-capacity studies for river basin as prescribed by the Union ministry of environment and forests "take away the confidence of investors".

Criticising mandatory basin studies, Pul said they had hurt small hydro projects below 25MW, which had to be dropped based on such studies. He said that the forest clearances should be delinked with the completion of basin studies.

Pul also said that state government was examining options to fund the equity participation of the state including the option to pull out from projects.

"We wish to create a win-win situation for the country, the people of the state, the state itself along with its ecological system, hydropower developers and entrepreneurs in many fields who would be attracted by such growth and change."

Pul said that power developers could invest on an "as-is-where-is basis" and the state government would only need 12 per cent free power assigned to it.

He claimed that private developers are facing funds constraints because projects are taken up without tying up resources from "concept to commissioning" and that the bankers are averse to lending money to the hydro sector.

Pul said the state government is willing to extend "necessary co-operation and assistance required" to the developers.

He urged the Centre to push for hydropower to increase its share in the nation's electricity-mix where today the thermal power accounts for more than 70 per cent. He pointed out that such scenario is not good when steps to mitigate emissions of greenhouse gas are to be seriously considered.

Suggesting that both solar and hydropower projects should be simultaneously promoted, Pul said that projects between 50MW-100 MW should be promoted and taken up under the ministry of non-renewable energy and there is a need to source subsidy funding.