CHUKHA ELECTRIFIES

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By the time Indian President R. Venkataraman inaugurated Bhutan's massive Chukha Hydro Electric Project on 21 October, it had already become the nation's leading employer and exporter. The project commissioned its first generator in September 1986 and the fourth and last one in August this year, generating a total of 336 megawatts. Thimphu has kept five percent of this output for itself and sold the rest through high tension lines to power-hungry industries in Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim and as far south as Orissa.

With Chukha, the Bhutanese economy has taken a leap forward. The abundant electricity that will see Thimphu well into the next century also allows its planners to implement their environmental policies more confidently. The Bhutanese economy has taken a leap forward.

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