The Indus river?s electric potential will not light up homes in the National Capital. A government policy paper on development of power projects in the Saarc region has ruled out the possibility of any co-operation with Pakistan for setting up hydroelectric capacities in the next 3-5 years through a joint venture route.

At the same time, the policy paper has identified Nepal and Bhutan as areas for deeper co-operation in the sector with projects worth over 10,000 mw in the next few years.

At a recent meeting of the ministries of power and external affairs, it was decided that the ministry of external affairs would work on implementation agreements between India and Nepal for joint development of 630-mw Garba-Tawaghat, 230-mw Kakika Dantu and the 209-mw Naumure projects on the Mahakali river under Article 6 of the Mahakali treaty, signed between the two countries in 1996.

In Bhutan, India has already set up a number of power projects including the 336-mw Chuka, 1020-mw Tala and the 60-mw Kurichu project.

Besides, another project, which is currently under implementation, is the 1095-mw Punatsangchu-I.

In addition to this, the ministry of power has identified a fresh basket of hydel projects in Bhutan for implementation by state-owned power companies of the two countries. These are the 1,000-mw Punatsangchu-II, 600-mw Mangdechu, 900-mw Wanagchu, 180-mw Bunakha, 2800-mw Manas and the 4,060-mw Sankosh power projects.

But with countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the situation is different. ?Even though Pakistan has got large hydro electric potential, there appears to be little scope for co-operation with Pakistan at this stage. Bangladesh lies relatively in flatter area, as such, there may not exist possibility of major hydel power schemes in that country,? the policy paper says. In the case of Sri Lanka, the paper said that evacuation of power from Sri Lanka may not be easy and India may like to extend financial and technical assistance to Sri Lanka for development of its hydro potential.

Considering the political instability in Nepal, the approach suggested in the policy paper includes immediate investments in a few small sized hydroelectric projects between 10-50 mw, power from which could be absorbed locally in Nepal. This can then be followed by taking up a couple of medium sized projects between 100-300 mw in the next 3-5 years, power from which will be absorbed by India. In the long-term (read 5 to 7 years), large projects can be taken up for implementation in Nepal.

?India could implement one such project in Nepal every 5-6 years and CPSUs like NHPC, NTPC and corporations like UJBNL, KPCL and others could be considered to implement these projects out of their own funds. India can grant loan and finance equity on the Chuka project model,? the paper added.