Small hydro project development activity started in the hilly state in 1900's during the British Raj, while the Ruler Kings were responsible for wellbeing of their small kingdom. The young king of Chamba (HH Bhuri Singh) while returning from overseas study in UK returned with a hydro turbine of 630 KW for the hydroelectric power station. The transport facility and other disadvantages could not stop his entrepreneurial zeal to serve the peasants under his command. He established the first small hydro station in 1902 which is still running as a live example of a small hydro project as displayed now as a world heritage project . The project is more than a century but still has a royal charisma of tiny power plant. It shows the path but somewhere, we are missing the track in developing this perennial technology driven path in the midst of policy, tariff, open access, other conflicting idea, forgetting the very basic aspect of harnessing natural resources at affordable cost at the doorstep of rural, hilly consumers at the demand side.

Keywords: Small hydro power plant, hydro turbine, natural resource, socio-economic aspect of hydro power, entrepreneur aspect of micro hydel project, hilly hydro project beauty.