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Damodar Valley Corporation

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Damodar Valley Corporation
Company typeStatutory body[1]
IndustryEnergy
Founded7 July 1948; 76 years ago (1948-07-07)
HeadquartersKolkata, West Bengal, India
Key people
S. Suresh Kumar
(Chairman)
ProductsElectricity
ServicesElectricity generation and Transmission, distribution, production, Soil conservation Flood Moderation
RevenueIncrease₹25,320 crore (US$3.0 billion) (2024-2025)[2]
Increase ₹704 crore (US$83 million) (2023)[3]
Total assetsIncrease ₹48,977 crore (US$5.8 billion) (2023)[3]
Total equityIncrease ₹12,812 crore (US$1.5 billion) (2023)[3]
Number of employees
5243 (2024)
ParentMinistry of Power, Government of India
Websitedvc.gov.in

Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) is a statutory corporation which operates in the Damodar River area of West Bengal and Jharkhand states of India to handle the Damodar Valley Project, the first multipurpose river valley project of independent India.[4][5] Astrophysicist Meghnad Saha played a pioneering role in conceptualizing and advocating for the Damodar Valley Project.[6][7] DVC operates both thermal power stations and hydel power stations under the ownership of Ministry of Power, Government of India. DVC is headquartered in the Kolkata, West Bengal, India.[8]

DVC is currently undergoing corporatization and restructuring to explore the possibility of an IPO to raise funds for expansion.[9]

History

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1955 postal stamp

The valley of the Damodar River was flood prone and the devastating flood of 1943, lead to the formation of the high-powered "Damodar Flood Enquiry Committee" by the government of Bengal. The committee recommended the formation of a body similar to the Tennessee Valley Authority of the United States. Subsequently, W.L. Voorduin, a senior engineer of TVA, was appointed to study the problem. He suggested the multi-purpose development of the valley as a whole in 1944. Damodar Valley Corporation was set up in 1948 as "the first multipurpose river valley project of independent India."[10]

DVC was formed with the central government and the governments of Bihar (later Jharkhand) and West Bengal participating in it. The main aims of the corporation were flood control, irrigation, generation and transmission of electricity, and year-round navigation. The corporation was also expected to provide indirect support for the over-all development of the region. However, while Voorduin had proposed the construction of eight dams, DVC built only four.[11]

Mr. Voorduin's "Preliminary Memorandum" suggested a multipurpose development plan designed for achieving flood control, irrigation, power generation and navigation in the Damodar Valley. Four consultants appointed by the Government of India examined it. They also approved the main technical features of Voorduin's scheme and recommended early initiation of construction beginning with Tilaiya to be followed by Maithon. By April 1947, full agreement was practically reached between the three Governments of Central, West Bengal and Bihar on the implementation of the scheme and in March 1948, the Damodar Valley Corporation Act (Act No. XIV of 1948) was passed by the Central Legislature, requiring the three Governments, The Central Government and the State Governments of West Bengal and Bihar to participate jointly for the purpose of building the Damodar Valley Corporation. The Corporation came into existence on 7 July 1948 as the first multipurpose river valley project of independent India.

The first dam was built across the Barakar River at Tilaiya and inaugurated in 1953. The second dam, Konar Dam, across the Konar River was inaugurated in 1955. The third dam across the Barakar River at Maithon was inaugurated in 1957. The fourth dam across the Damodar at Panchet was inaugurated in 1959. Durgapur Barrage was built in 1955, with a 136.8 kilometres (85.0 mi) long left bank main canal and an 88.5 kilometres (55.0 mi) long right bank main canal.[12][13]

Command area: 24,235 km2 spread across the Damodar basin. Jharkhand: 2 districts fully (Dhanbad and Bokaro) and parts of 9 districts (Hazaribagh, Koderma, Chatra, Ramgarh, Palamau, Ranchi, Lohardaga, Giridih, and Dumka) West Bengal: 6 districts (Purba Bardhhaman, Paschim Bardhhaman, Hooghly, Howrah, Bankura and Purulia)

DVC plants

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Thermal Plants (coal based)[14][15]
Power Plant Name State Installed Capacity
in MW		 Remarks
Mejia Thermal Power Station West Bengal 4x210 + 2x250 + 2x500 = 2,340
Raghunathpur Thermal Power Station West Bengal 2x600=1,200 Upcoming 2x660 MW
Durgapur Steel Thermal Power Station West Bengal 2x500=1,000
Durgapur Thermal Power Station West Bengal 0 Upcoming 1x800MW
Koderma Thermal Power Station Jharkhand 2x500=1,000 Upcoming 2x800MW
Chandrapura Thermal Power Station Jharkhand 2x250=500 Upcoming 1x800MW
Bokaro Thermal Power Station - A Jharkhand 1x500
Total 6540
Hydel-Power Plants[14][15]
Power Plant Name State Installed Capacity
in MW
Panchet Dam Jharkhand 80
Maithon Dam Jharkhand 63.2
Tilaiya Dam Jharkhand 4
Konar Dam Jharkhand Nil
Total 147.2
Joint ventures
Power Plant Name State Installed Capacity
in MW		 Remarks
Maithon Power Limited Jharkhand 2x525=1,050 Owned by Maithon Power Limited a joint venture between
DVC and Tata Power[16]
BPSCL Power Plant Jharkhand 338 Owned by Bokaro Power Supply Corporation Limited (BPSCL)
a joint venture between DVC and Bokaro Steel Limited[17]

Infrastructure

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DVC developed and expanded its infrastructure to six thermal power stations (6750 MW) and three hydro-electric power stations with a capacity of 147.2 MW which contribute to a total installed capacity of 6897.2 MW. Presently DVC has 49 sub-stations and receiving stations more than 8390-circuit km of transmission and distribution lines. DVC has also four dams, a barrage and a network of canals (2494 km) that play an effective role in water management. The construction of check dams, development of forests and farms and upland and wasteland treatment developed by DVC play a vital role in eco-conservation and environmental management.

Water management

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DVC has a network of four dams - Tilaiya and Maithon on Barakar River, Panchet on Damodar river and Konar on Konar river. Besides, Durgapur barrage and the canal network, handed over to the Government of West Bengal in 1964, remained a part of the total system of water management. DVC dams are capable of moderating floods of 6.51 lac cusec to 2.5 lac cusecs.

Four multipurpose dams were constructed during the period 1948 to 1959:

Flood reserve capacity of 1,292 mcm has been provided in 4 reservoirs, which can moderate a peak flood of 18,395 cumecs to a safe carrying capacity of 7,076 cumecs. 419 mcm of water is stored in the 4 DVC reservoirs to supply 680 cusecs of water to meet industrial, municipal and domestic requirements in West Bengal & Jharkhand. The Durgapur barrage on river Damodar was constructed in 1955 for the supply of irrigation water to the districts of Burdwan, Bankura & Hooghly.

  • Irrigation Command Area (Gross): 569,000 hectares (5,690 km2)
  • Irrigation Potential Created: 364,000 hectares (3,640 km2)
  • Canals: 2,494 km (1,550 mi)

30,000 hectares (300 km2) of land in the upper valley is being irrigated, every year by lift irrigation with the water available from 16,000 (approx) check dams constructed by DVC.

Solar floating plants

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  • DVC Mejia Floating Solar PV Park: A floating solar PV park in India
  • DVC Chandrapura Thermal Floating Solar PV Park: 10 MW Floating Solar park in Bokaro, Jharkhand.[18]
  • DVC Raghunathpur Floating Solar PV Park: An under-construction 10MW Floating Solar plant in West bengal
  • DVC Konar Floating Solar PV Plant: is an under-construction 50 MW solar PV power project in Jharkhand that and expected to be commercial operation in 2027

Damodar Valley Plans 1.7 GW of Floating Solar Projects in West Bengal and Jharkhand.

Joint venture projects

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Maithon Power Limited

Maithon Power Ltd., a joint venture between Tata Power and Damodar Valley Corporation, is one of the first greenfield public-private partnership (PPP) power projects in India. Operational since 2011, the plant contributes significantly to the energy grid and DVC’s power distribution capacity.[16]

Bokaro Power Supply Corporation Limited (BPSCL)

A joint venture of DVC and SAIL has been established to operate and maintain the captive power and steam generation plant, hived off by SAIL and its Bokaro Steel Plant and supply power and steam exclusively to Bokaro Steel Ltd.[19]

DVC EMTA Coal Mines Limited

A joint venture company formed with Eastern Minerals & Trading Agency for development and operation of Captive Coal Mine Blocks and supply of coal exclusively to DVC Thermal Power Projects of 10th and 11th plan.

Mining & Allied Machinery Corporation (MAMC)

The Mining and Allied Machinery Corporation (MAMC) in Durgapur —one of the PSU's in India set up under the rupee-rouble agreement and enjoying Soviet patronage in the early sixties. Bharat Earth Movers has the highest stake (48%) in the consortium while the other two PSUs — DVC and Coal India — have 26% stake each.

Pumped storage plants

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In 2018, DVC announced plans to build six 250 MW pump storage hydel power plants at Lagu Pahar on the Bokaro River.[20]

Notes

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  1. ^ "Statutory Bodies | Government of India | Ministry of Power".
  2. ^ "DVC reaches significant milestones in FY 2024-25". PSU Watch. 2 April 2025. Retrieved 6 June 2025. The financial performance of DVC remained robust, with revenue collections amounting to Rs. 25,320 crore in FY 2024-25 and an annual collection efficiency of 109 percent.
  3. ^ a b c "DVC" (PDF).
  4. ^ Chand, Mahesh; Puri, V. K. (23 May 1983). Regional Planning in India. Allied Publishers. p. 417. ISBN 978-81-7023-058-8. Retrieved 6 June 2025. ..Damodar Valley project was the first attempt at multi-purpose planning of a river basin.(..) The Damodar river is 541 km (about 336 miles) long and flows through Bihar and West Bengal, across the coal and steel belt of India. The river is also known as Deonadi in its initial reaches.
  5. ^ Jain, Sharad K.; Agarwal, Pushpendra K.; Singh, Vijay P. (16 May 2007). Hydrology and Water Resources of India. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 361. ISBN 978-1-4020-5180-7. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2025. Damodar basin lies in the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal.
  6. ^ Naik, Pramod V. (14 September 2017). Meghnad Saha: His Life in Science and Politics. Springer. p. 128. ISBN 978-3-319-62102-9. Retrieved 6 June 2025. Saha's writing in the daily press was one of the major reasons which compelled the Bengal Government to appoint the Damodar Flood Enquiry Committee. The Maharajadhiraj of Burdwan was chairman, N. K. Bose secretary and Saha one of the members.(...) Saha demonstrated that the river system could be handled for multipurpose scheme, like Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), USA, using the Tennessee River system. But the war halted further work. During 1943-1944 Saha published a number of articles and editorials, to create public opinion and to shape government policy.
  7. ^ Anderson, Robert S. (15 May 2010). Nucleus and Nation: Scientists, International Networks, and Power in India. University of Chicago Press. p. 231–233. ISBN 978-0-226-01977-2. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2025. Saha had... presented a scheme for flood control to the Damodar Flood Enquiry Committee during 1943–44. Saha then became a member of that committee, founded after serious floods in 1943, which inspired the study by the US Army Corps of Engineers that led to the Damodar scheme.(..) Saha published his own scheme in Science and Culture, which involved dams, irrigation canals, and afforestation to check erosion.(..) He [Saha] was essentially the most prominent protagonist for the Damodar project but became the best-known critic of its execution.(..) Saha felt sensitive about the Damodar scheme because it was so personal an idea. He had conceived of the Damodar scheme as bringing power, of both kinds, to Bengal and had loudly advocated it because he believed deeply in the success of the TVA.
  8. ^ "Overview of Damodar Valley Corporation". dvc.gov.in. Archived from the original on 25 January 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  9. ^ "DVC to be corporatised, divided into 3 entities keeping ownership intact". Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  10. ^ "Overview". DVC. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  11. ^ Planning in India by Mahesh Chand, Vinay Kumar Puri, pages 422-423, Allied Publishers Private Ltd. ISBN 81-7023-058-6
  12. ^ "Damodar Valley Corporation". Dams and Barrages. DVC. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  13. ^ "Emphasis was laid on keeping the Damodar river and valley clean". Prabhat Khabar. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Generating Units". report. DVC. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  15. ^ a b "Generating Units". DVC. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014.
  16. ^ a b CHOUBEY, PRADUMAN. "Power puffed by Maithon 1050MW Tata-DVC plant chugs to life". Archived from the original on 1 June 2015. Maithon Power Ltd, in which the Tatas and DVC hold 74:26 stake, is being touted as the country's first greenfield power project under public-private partnership.
  17. ^ "The Official Website of BPSCL".
  18. ^ Kavitha (9 October 2024). "Damodar Valley Corporation Invites Bids for 10 MW Floating Solar PV Plant at Chandrapura Thermal Power Station". SolarQuarter. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  19. ^ Islam, S. Nazrul (2020). Rivers and Sustainable Development: Alternative Approaches and Their Implications. Oxford University Press. p. 338. ISBN 978-0-19-007902-4. Retrieved 6 June 2025. Maithon (1,050 MW) is a joint venture with Tata Power, and Bokaro Power Supply Corporation Limited (BPSCL) is a joint venture with Bokaro Steel Limited.
  20. ^ "Damodar Valley Corp to set up India's largest pump storage hydel power". Retrieved 22 November 2024.
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