Chamera Hydro-Electric Power Project (Chep-1), Khairi: Looking beyond the Horizon of Hydroelectricity and Profit, Giving New Meaning to Life

Abstract

National Hydro-electric Power Corporation Limited (NHPC Ltd) was the biggest player in Indian hydro power industry. NHPC was in the business of hydro power generation. NHPC was spread all over India and generated about 3740 Mega Watt (MW) of electricity annually. Hydro-electric power projects brought associated challenges like loss of forest and village land because of the creation of the water reservoirs and dam infrastructure, etc., of the project. Further, this led to the displacement of people, which impacted their livelihood. NHPC had to effectively and efficiently minimize the social and environmental impacts created by its business initiatives in the projects. NHPC undertook Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives to address these issues. The case writes about one such project (Chamera Hydro-electric Power Station -I, CHEP-1) of NHPC The case illustrates how NHPC bettered the lives of the people around CHEP-1. NHPC had major expansion and growth plans to cater to the growing energy demand of India. NHPC management aimed at contributing not only to its economic goals but also to the society where it worked. For that, NHPC had to make the CSR initiatives in its projects comparable to the CHEP-1 story