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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the Revised Cost Estimate (RCE) of North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) at an estimated cost of Rs. 6,700 crore
Background:
The Scheme was initially approved in December 2014 as a Central Sector Plan Scheme of Ministry of Power and is being funded with the assistance of World Bank fund and by the Government of India through the Budget support of Ministry of Power on 50:50 basis (World Bank: Gol) except for the capacity building component for Rs 89 crore, which will be entirely funded by the Government of India (Gol).
North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP)
- The scheme is being implemented through POWERGRID, a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under Ministry of Power in association with six beneficiary North Eastern States namely, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura and
- 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 Government commitment for the total economic development of North Eastern Region and to strengthen the Intra-State Transmission & Distribution Infrastructure in the North East Region.
Two components of the Project
This project has two components.
1) The first component, Priority Investments for Strengthening Intrastate Transmission, Subtransmission, and Distribution Systems, will include priority investments for strengthening and augmenting the intrastate transmission, sub-transmission, and distribution networks by upgrading old and constructing new 220 kilovolt,132 kilovolt, 66 kilovolt, and 33 kilovolt lines and associated substations in each of the six participating states.
2) The second component, Technical Assistance for Capacity Building and Institutional Strengthening (CBIS) of Power Utilities and Departments of Participating States, will provide support for capacity building of power utilities and departments across the six participating states.
Significance of the scheme
- Implementation of this scheme will create a reliable power grid and improve NER States’ connectivity to the upcoming load centers, and thus extend the benefits of the grid connected power to all categories of consumers of beneficiaries in North Eastern Region.
- The scheme shall also increase the per capita power consumption of these States, and shall contribute to the total economic development of the North-Eastern Region.
- Implementing agencies are hiring a considerable number of local manpower during their construction works, generating a lot of employment for skilled and unskilled manpower of North-Eastern Region.
- Further after completion, additional manpower will be required for Operation & Maintenance of these newly created assets as per standard norms, generating considerable additional employment opportunities for North Eastern Region States.
