By TIOL News Service  

NEW DELHI, DEC 16, 2020: THE Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the revised cost estimate for improving power transmission and distribution architecture for northeastern states today.

The North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) for the states of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura, will cost an estimated Rs 6,700 crore. New transmission lines of 2,100 km, distribution lines of 2,000 km and 36 new sub stations will be part of the project.

"This is a major step towards economic development of northeastern region through strengthening of intra-state transmission and distribution systems," the CCEA said.

State-owned POWERGRID Corp under the Ministry of Power is working on these strategic lines with a December 2021 deadline. After commissioning, the project will be owned and maintained by the respective states' utilities.

The CCEA said the scheme will create a reliable power grid and improve the northeastern states' connectivity to the upcoming load centres, and thus extend the benefits of the grid connected power to all consumers.

It will also increase the per capita power consumption of these states, and contribute to the total economic development of the region.

The North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project was initially approved in December 2014 and is being half-funded by the World Bank fund, except for the capacity building component for Rs 89 crore, which will be entirely funded by the government of India.