Leh, Feb 14: Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Dr Alka Mittal; Chief Growth & Strategy Officer (CGSO), PVR Cinemas, Pramod Arora; CEO, Chakr Innovation, Kushagra Srivastava and Managing Director, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL), Chanchal Kumar called on the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, RK Mathur, in New Delhi.
CMD ONGC Dr Alka briefed LG Mathur about the need for early forest and wildlife clearance for setting up the 1 MW geothermal pilot project in Ladakh within 2022.
Dr Alka briefed LG Mathur about the Phase-I of the project that involves exploratory-cum-production drilling of wells up to 1,000 metres depth and setting up a pilot plant of up to 1 MW power capacity at a cost of about Rs 35 crores. She informed LG Mathur that the 1 MW pilot project would determine the scaling up of the pilot project. She stressed the need for clearance from the Wildlife Department for carrying out the project.
LG Mathur suggested that ONGC may consider a comprehensive survey of Ladakh to identify geothermal project zones. He stated that the collaboration entered into with Iceland on geothermal development would be very helpful. He requested ONGC to set up several heat pumps to help as pilots for space heating.
CGSO PVR Cinemas Pramod Arora was requested to assist in setting up a movie complex to benefit the people of Ladakh, tourists and the army and also to facilitate in holding the proposed International Himalayan Film Festival.
LG Mathur stated that an existing auditorium area in Ladakh has enough space to set up several screens as well as commercial areas. He suggested that PVR Cinemas can send a team to visit Ladakh to prepare a report.
CEO, Chakr Innovation, Kushagra Srivastava, briefed LG Mathur about technologies that can help in reducing carbon emission from vehicles, household heating systems, etc.
Managing Director, NHIDCL, Chanchal Kumar, briefed LG Mathur about the status of various ongoing projects in Ladakh, especially Zoji La tunnel.
LG Mathur requested NHIDCL to expedite the execution and completion of all projects/works assigned to them in a time-bound manner. He expressed satisfaction over the progress of Zoji La, where about 1.8 km of tunnelling work has been completed. He assured that land acquisition work for the Kargil-Zanskar road shall be expedited.
