The proposal to shift the 1,095 mega watt (MG) Punatsangchu-I project, to a new dam location was approved by authorities comprising Bhutanese and Indian officials at the Punatsangchu hydropower authority (PHPA) meeting on August 8, at the capital. The new location means an increase in the generation capacity of the station from 1,095 MW to 1,200 MW. "This happened because of shifting the dam to a better location. It gave us the additional head of 105 MW because of more quantity and force of water,' said the managing director of Tala hydro project authority (THPA), R N Khazanchi. He said that this increase would cost the project Nu 12.8 million per MW as compared to the original cost of Nu 32 million per MW. The Tala management with an approved allowance has been given the responsibility to give the project a good start. A total of 72 staff have been deployed for the project site, of which 44 comprise THPA staff. The PHPA meeting also decided to award the construction of a permanent bridge costing about Nu 190 million to Singye construction and Macintosh Verma, Kolkata, and procuring initial basic facilities worth Nu 400 million to contractors to start work immediately. The supply of six units of 200 MW capacity of electro mechanical works, such as generators and turbines, was given to Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd of India. "The supply of gas insulated switch gear will be open to international countries for bidding,' said the THPA managing director. The 26th meeting of THPA was also held on August 8. The authority discussed progress and reviewed electricity generation and revenues earned after the project was commissioned. The economic affairs minister Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk said that they looked at ways to take care of teething problems in the operation of machines and ensured that there would be a good and strong operation and maintenance team when the authority hands the project over to Bhutan in early 2009. "One of the problems was the claim by contractors of over Nu 1,500 million. The management has resolved all claims and we only had to compensate about Nu 31 million.' Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk said that they have an ambitious plan to generate 10,000 MW of electricity in the next 12 years. "Based on the sound experiences of the two governments working closely, we're confident that for our mutual benefit, by 2020, we'll add 10,000 MW of hydro power generation capacity to Bhutan.'