Assam: Rs 1,200-crore project boosting power transmission & distribution

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The Assam government has taken up a project worth Rs 1,200 crore to boost power transmission and distribution (T&D). Through this project, the government has installed new transformers in old LT lines, converting them to covered conductors, etc.

According to official sources, the purpose of the project is to improve power transmission in the state, with a special focus on rural areas. So far, the government has changed 12,982 km of old LT lines to covered conductors with new poles, installed 489 new high-voltage transformers, constructed 250 km of new 11KV lines, etc. The outcome is improved voltage and safety, reliable power supply, and meeting the growing power demand.

In order to meet the growing power demand, the state government had to purchase power worth around Rs 31,000 crore from various sources in the past five years. The government purchased power worth Rs 5100 crore in 2018-19, Rs 5530 crore in 2019-20, Rs 5807 crore in 2020-21, Rs 5917 crore in 2021-22, and Rs 8478 crore in 2022-23.

The state has around 70 lakh power consumers of all categories. And of them, domestic consumers consume the bulk of the power, followed by industries and commercial establishments.

To enhance its capacity, the APDCL has taken a few measures like extension of network to make electricity available to all villages and hamlets, mobilizing sufficient resources to undertake capacity enhancement of distribution from sub-stations and lines, a master plan for HT and LT ratio, re-conducting of 33KV, 11KV, and LT lines under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme, replacement of overhead lines with underground cables, efforts to procure a sufficient number of transformers, efforts to reduce the government arrears as far as possible, identifying areas of high loss and pilferage, and thereby focusing efforts on necessary corrective action.

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