India is blessed with immense amount of hydro-electric potential and ranks 5th in terms of exploitable hydro-potential on global scenario. As per assessment made by CEA, India is endowed with economically exploitable hydro-power potential to the tune of 1 48 700 MW of installed capacity. The basin wise assessed potential is as under :- Basin/Rivers Probable Installed Capacity (MW) Indus Basin 33,832 Ganga Basin 20,711 Central Indian River system 4,152 Western Flowing Rivers of southern India 9,430 Eastern Flowing Rivers of southern India 14,511 Brahmaputra Basin 66,065 Total 1,48,701 In addition, 56 number of pumped storage projects have also been identified with probable installed capacity of 94 000 MW. In addition to this, hydro-potential from small, mini & micro schemes has been estimated as 6 782 MW from 1 512 sites. Thus, in totality India is endowed with hydro-potential of about 2 50 000 MW. However, exploitation of hydro-potential has not been up to the desired level due to various constraints confronting the sector. In 1998, Government of India announced "Policy on Hydro Power Development" under which impetus is given to development of hydropower in the country. This was a welcome step towards effective utilization of our water resources in the direction of hydropower development. During October 2001, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) came out with a ranking study which prioritized and ranked the future executable projects. As per the study, 399 hydro schemes with an aggregate installed capacity of 1 06 910 MW were ranked in A,B & C categories depending upon their inter-se attractiveness. During May 2003, Govt. of India launched 50 000 MW hydro initiative in which preparation of Pre Feasibility Reports of 162 Projects totalling to 50 000 MW was taken up by CEA through various agencies. The PFRs for all these projects have already been prepared and projects with low tariff (first year tariff less than Rs.2.50/kWh) have been identified for preparation of DPR.