The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved the Revised Cost Estimate (RCE) of North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) at an estimated cost of Rs 6,700 crore.
Briefing reporters after the cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said the scheme is being implemented through POWERGRID, a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Power in association with six beneficiary states - Assam, Mpur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura.
He said this is a major step towards economic development of North Eastern Region through the strengthening of intra-state transmission and distribution systems. The scheme is targeted to be commissioned by December 2021.
After commissioning, the project will be owned and maintained by the respective state utilities.
An official release said that implementation of the scheme will create a reliable power grid and improve NER states' connectivity to the upcoming load centres, and extend the benefits of the grid-connected power to all categories of consumers.
The scheme shall also increase the per capita power consumption of these states and shall contribute to the total economic development, it said.
"Implementing agencies are hiring a considerable number of local manpower during their construction works, generating a lot of employment for skilled and unskilled manpower. After completion, additional manpower will be required for operation and maintenance of these newly created assets as per standard norms, generating considerable additional employment opportunities for North Eastern Region states," the release said.
It said 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 except for the capacity building component for Rs 89 crore, which will be entirely funded by the central government.
( With inputs from ANI )
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