Chamling at the ceremony. A Telegraph picture

Chuzachen (East Sikkim), Feb. 6: The Rongli river valley here will reverberate with the sound of twin turbines generating 99 MW of power in 27 months’ time.

Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling today laid the foundation stone of the Rs 625-crore Chuzachen Hydroelectric Power Project, the first such public-private partnership in the state, which will contribute to Sikkim’s target of 6,000-MW power generation and Rs 2,000-crore annual revenue by 2015.

Though the state consumes about 60 MW now, the additional power will be used in upcoming industries and sold “to whoever needs it”.

In his speech today, Chamling described how Sikkim was on the path to becoming “the richest state in the country”, having already achieved the highest per capita income (Rs 26,000). “When we came to power in 1995, it was Rs 9,000, and by 2015, I promise it will be Rs 1 lakh,” said the leader of the Sikkim Democratic Front.

The Chuzachen project, he said, would employ 1,330 local workers, provide small contracts for local traders and generate 99 MW of power, 12 per cent of which would be given free to the state.

Chamling also described the conditions that his government had imposed on the entrants to the new industries in Sikkim. These include employment opportunities for local people, ordering of construction material from within the state and replacement of forests sacrificed for a project.

“We have plans for two more hydel projects here, selling the major part of the power generated to any buyer in the country,” said Mahendra Agarwal, managing director and chief executive officer of Gati Infrastructure Ltd, the promoters of the Chuzachen project. Observers, however, feel that with Rs 625 crore spent to generate only 99 MW, selling the power at market rates will not be enough for the project to break even.