When Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh voted in Delhi in favour of suspending work on raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam, this is what his power-starved state almost lost, until the Supreme Court said construction must continue along with effective rehabilitation:

• If the dam height is raised to 121.92 m before the monsoon, its power generation capacity is expected to double to 4,000 million units—of which Maharashtra would gain over 1,000 million units this year.

So, raising the height would double the project’s power benefit for Maharashtra—from the 517 million units it received during 2005-06 to over 1,000 million units this year.

‘‘If the dam height remains at 110.64 m, 2,000 million units of power can be generated. But if the height is raised to 121.92 m before the monsoon, power generation can be doubled to 4,000 million units of which Maharashtra would get a 27 per cent share,’’ A B Mandaviya, director (civil), of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam, told The Indian Express.

Maharashtra’s 27 per cent share is the second largest slice of power among the Narmada dam’s three beneficiary states.

Gujarat receives much less—16 per cent—enough to agitate Chief Minister Narendra Modi to fast for 51 hours.

‘‘Maharashtra certainly gets a significant share,’’ says Mandaviya. This 27 per cent of the project’s 1,450 MW capacity would translate into about 400 MW. Maharashtra is reeling under a 4,000 MW shortfall, with demand at 13,500 MW and only 9,500 MW available (minus Mumbai).

Ministers and officials of the ruling coalition are tightlipped on Deshmukh’s vote—‘‘I haven’t discussed it with him, I can’t comment,’’ says energy minister Dilip Walse-Patil.

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