Agartala Jun 28: With Act East Policy under able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, North East has seen drastic changes in terms of power management while walking forward in the line of overall development.
Tripura, Mizoram, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have emerged as power surplus states. These regions are the hubs of power generation, said Tripura Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath as he addressed the 2- day meeting of 24th Technical Coordination Committee Meeting and 24th North Eastern Regional Power Committee Meeting at Tawang Arunachal Pradesh.
The state power minister said, “Seven important decisions related to the interest of the state were taken in this meeting. Rs 70 crore has been sanctioned to the state for changing the old conductor of 82 km 132 kilovolt line. Besides, a decision has been taken to change the 74 km line from PK Bari to Dharmanagar and 132 KV transmission from Dharmanagar to Durlabcherra”.
Nath also said that it has been decided to form a smart training institute related to electricity.
“SCADA upgradation of Tripura SLDC at a cost of Rs 44.46 crore has also been approved. It has also been decided that the Union Ministry of Power will bear all the expenses related to the salaries and allowances of the additional staff officers for all the new power sub-stations that are being constructed under the NERPSIP project with the financial assistance of the Government of India and the World Bank”, he added.
Tripura State Power Corporation Managing Director Debashish Sarkar and Power Transmission Division General Manager TPTL Ranjan Debbarma were present in both the meetings.
In a meeting of the North Eastern Power Committee on Wednesday, the Power Minister said that the state's double engine government has signed an agreement worth Rs 2275 crore with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to strengthen and improve power distribution and generation efficiency in Tripura.
Rokhia in Sipahijala district and Gomati hydro project in Gomti district - both are planned for extensive renovation.
At present, 63 MW of electricity is being generated from the gas-based Rokhia Power Project and the modernization of the plant will double its installed capacity.
Similarly, the capacity of Doombur hydropower project will be increased from 5 MW to 10 MW.
Distribution modernization and reliability improvement under this project include covered conductors, modern technology voltage distribution system (HVDS) like high voltage distribution system (HVDS), fault passage indicator (FPI), auto-recloser. and Sectionalizer, Ring Main Unit (RMU), State of the Art Transformer Testing Lab, Smart Metering etc.
Notably, the North East Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) is being funded by the Government of India and the World Bank. The entire North Eastern region will benefit from the infrastructural development through this.
The state Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath expressed hope that the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited would expedite the remaining works and complete the project soon.
Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya), Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana, integrated electricity development projects have brought light to the homes of the poorest people in the region, he said.
The Power Minister said the North Eastern Regional Power Committee is the most appropriate forum to discuss all relevant issues in the power sector of the North Eastern region and bring some consensus. This opportunity should also be used to collectively present common views and issues to the Government of India, in the interests of the North-Eastern States.
Hailing the efforts of prime minister Narendra Modi, Nath further said, “Speaking at the recent India Energy Week 2023 in Bengaluru, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a vivid insight into how the world is witnessing India's commitment and efforts towards green energy. Solar power capacity has also increased more than 20 times during this time. Today India ranks fourth in the world in terms of wind power capacity”.
An initiative has been taken to set up a 130 MW floating solar power plant in Doombur Lake in Tripura's Gomti district. In this regard, Tripura Renewable Energy Development Corporation has signed an MoU with NTPC for feasibility study.
The proposed 130 MW floating power plant is on track to generate 200 MW of solar power by 2030.
Meanwhile, the 24th Technical Coordination Committee meeting of the Regional Power Committee (NERPC) was held on Tuesday with the power sector officials of the North Eastern region.
Under the leadership of Arunachal Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, important decisions were presented to the Power Committee on Wednesday for submission to the Union Power Ministry.
G. Lingi, Chief Engineer (Power), Central Electrical Zone, Arunachal Pradesh, KB Jagtap, Member Secretary (NERPC), all senior level officials of Central and State Electricity Corporations were present.