Centre urged to tap NE resources

AGARTALA, August 7: The Centre has earmarked Rs 200 crore to augment sub-transmission and the distribution network in the seven Northeast states. The North Eastern Regional Electricity Board (NEREB chairman and Tripura power minister Badal Chowdhury and other state power ministers today said they would jointly take up outstanding issues of power sector of the region with the Union power minister in November. The region's resources were yet to be properly utilised, though the region could generate 60,000 MW hydel power and meet with the northeastern, eastern and central India's power requirement, they said adding that the power projects, now under construction, must be completed within the revised schedule. According to the revised schedule, the 75 MW Doyang hydro-electric power project and the 405 MW Ranganadi hydro-electric power project in Arunachal Pradesh would be on stream by March next year and December 2001 respectively. Inaugurating the 46th NEREB meeting here yesterday, the Tripura Chief Minister, Manik Sarkar, said the per capita consumption of power, which was an index of development, was only 107 units in the region as compared to 338 units for the country as a whole. The low per capita consumption was due to inadequate industrial growth in all the states, except Assam, Sarkar said. Senior officials, chairman-cum-managing directors and chief engineers of the seven States, North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO), Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and Power Grid Corporation attended the meeting.