For the North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP), Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the revised cost estimate of Rs 6,700 crore, on Wednesday. The government believes that the NERPSIP is a major step towards the economic development of the region through the strengthening of intrastate transmission as well as distribution systems. According to an IE report, this ambitious project is being implemented through the Public Sector Unit Powergrid, in association with beneficiary states Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland. The target for the completion of this project is December 2021. Once commissioned, it will be owned as well as maintained by the respective state utilities.
In December 2014, NERPSIP was initially approved as a Central sector plan scheme of the Power Ministry and is partially funded by the World Bank. The central government will cover the capacity building component for an additional amount of Rs 89 crore. According to the government, the project is intended to create a reliable power grid as well as improve the northeastern states’ connectivity to the upcoming load centers, and thus extend the grid connected power benefits to all categories of consumers of beneficiaries in the north east region. Besides, the scheme is also likely to increase the per capita power consumption of these north east states and shall contribute to the northeastern region’s total economic development.
According to the Ministry of Power, for the development of the power sector, the road-map specifying the need for strengthening of overall Transmission, Sub transmission as well as the distribution system of the northeastern region of the country along with the state of Sikkim was brought out in the “Pasighat Proclamation on Power”. This was released during the North Eastern Council’s first Sectoral Summit, at Pasighat in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in January 2007.