Patel Engineering wins Rs 230.7 crore Bhutan hydro project package

Patel Engineering Limited (PEL) has received a letter of award worth Rs 230.70 crore from Dorjilung Hydro Power Limited for a pre-construction package of the 1,125 MW Dorjilung Hydroelectric Power Project in Bhutan’s Mongar Dzongkhag district. The award comes days after the company secured a Rs 910 crore contract for the Renukaji Dam project in Himachal Pradesh.

Dorjilung Hydro Power Limited is a joint venture between Druk Green Power Corporation of Bhutan and Tata Power Company of India.

Under Package I, PEL’s scope includes civil and hydromechanical works. This covers construction of two diversion tunnels of 11 metre diameter with lengths of 930 metres and 821 metres, an intermediate adit of 7 metre diameter and 116 metres in length, and a D-shaped highway road tunnel measuring 11 metres by 7.5 metres and 500 metres long. The hydromechanical component includes four sets of vertical lift fixed wheel gates. The construction period is 300 days, followed by a one-year defects notification period.

At 1,125 MW, the Dorjilung project is Bhutan’s largest hydropower project under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. It is designed to meet domestic demand while enabling surplus power exports to India, consistent with the bilateral energy framework between the two countries.

Kavita Shirvaikar, Managing Director of PEL, said the company is looking to expand its presence in Bhutan’s hydropower sector and is evaluating additional opportunities in the country and other neighbouring markets.

PEL has executed more than 85 dams and 40 hydroelectric projects over the past seven decades, primarily for central public sector undertakings (PSUs) and state government clients.

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