Revised estimate of Northeast Power project gets green signal

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on 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. This is a major step towards the economic development of the north-eastern region through strengthening of the 'Intra-State Transmission and Distribution' systems.

The scheme is being implemented through POWERGRID — a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Power — in association with the six beneficiary north-eastern States namely, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. It is targeted to be commissioned by December 2021. After commissioning, the project will be owned and maintained by the respective 'North Eastern State Utilities'.

The main objective of the project is to ensure the government's commitment for total economic development of the north-eastern region and to strengthen the 'Intra-State Transmission & Distribution Infrastructure' in the region.

Implementation of this scheme will create a reliable power grid and improve the beneficiary States' connectivity to the upcoming load centers, and thus extend the benefits of the grid- connected power to all categories of consumers in the region. The scheme will also increase the per-capita power consumption of these States, and contribute to the total economic development of the region.

The implementing agencies are hiring a considerable number of local manpower during their construction works, generating a lot of employment for both the skilled and the unskilled manpower of the region.

After completion of the project, additional manpower will be required for Operation & Maintenance of these newly-created assets as per the standard norms, generating considerable additional employment opportunities for the beneficiary States in the North East.

Background: The Scheme was initially approved as a Central Sector Plan Scheme of the Ministry of Power in December 2014. It is funded with the assistance of World Bank and the Government of India (GoI) through the Budget support of the Power Ministry on 50:50 basis (World Bank: Gol) except for the capacity-building component of Rs 89 crore, which will be entirely funded by the Gol, stated a release. (PIB)

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