Centre okays revised cost of Rs 6,700 crore for building power projects in Northeast

In a major step to boost the economic development of the north-eastern region through the strengthening of 'Intra-State Transmission and Distribution systems, the Union Government has given its nod to the revised cost estimate of the region's power development project.
Centre okays revised cost of Rs 6,700 crore for building power projects in Northeast

KOHIMA: In a major step to boost the economic development of the north-eastern region through the strengthening of 'Intra-State Transmission and Distribution systems, the Union Government has given its nod to the revised cost estimate of the region's power development project.

The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the 'Revised Cost Estimate' (RCE) of the 'North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project' (NERPSIP) at an estimated cost of Rs 6,700 crore.

The scheme is being implemented through Powergrid — a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Power — in association with the six beneficiary States of the region namely Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. The project is set to be commissioned by December 2021. After commissioning, the project will be owned and maintained by the respective Utilities of the beneficairy States.

Implementation of this scheme is going to create a reliable power grid and improve NER States' connectivity for the upcoming load centres, and thus extend the benefits of the grid-connected power to all categories of consumers of beneficiaries in the region. The scheme will also help to increase the per capita income power consumption of these States besides contributing to the total economic development of the region.

The scheme will help to generate a lot of employment for skilled and unskilled manpower of the north-eastern region. Already the implementing agencies are actively hiring a considerable number of local manpower during their construction works.

After completion of the work, additional manpower would be required for the ation and maintenance of these newly created assets as per the standard norms.

The scheme was approved in December 2014 as a Central Sector Plan Scheme by the Ministry of Power. Funded with assistance from the World Bank and the Government of India (GoI) through the budget support of the Ministry on 50:50 basis (World Bank: Gol). However, the capacity-building component estimated to cost Rs 89 crore will be funded by the GoI. (Agencies)

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