Hydropower can be main revenue-earning source of state: Mein
ITANAGAR, 14 Jun: Hydropower can be the main revenue-earning source of the state, said Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, who is also the minister in charge of power & hydropower development, addressing a virtual meeting with the chief managing director (CMD) of the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) regarding the joint venture agreement between the NEEPCO and the Hydro Power Development Corporation of Arunachal Pradesh Limited (HPDCAPL) for the 3,750 mw Siang Upper, 330 mw Kurung Dam and 90 mw New Meling hydroelectric projects (HEP) in the state on Monday.
He said that, with constant support from the central government, the state government is planning to develop big as well as small hydroelectric projects. “Efforts are also on to revamp the development of the Dibang multipurpose project and the Lower Demwe project,” the DCM said.
Citing Arunachal’s dependence on the central government for “90 percent of its budget requirement,” Mein said that all efforts are on to “enhance our internal revenue by harnessing our own state resources.”
“Arunachal Pradesh has more than 1/3rd hydropower potential of the country; however, 98 percent of it remain untapped due to various reasons,” he added.
Mein informed that the previous state governments had allotted 168 projects to private power developers and PSUs, aggregating to nearly 46,000 mw. However, Mein said, “due to failure to take off the projects by some of the power developers, the government has terminated many such projects.” He added that the state has started allocating the terminated projects to CPSUs, and that two projects – the 120 mw Nafra and the 90 mw New Meling HEPs – have already been decided to be allotted to the NEEPCO.
The DCM urged the NEEPCO CMD to start work on the Nafra and the New Meling HEPs as early as possible. He also urged the NEEPCO to “sort out the impediment in the implementation of the 330 mw Kurung HEP by sitting across the table.” The MoA for the project had been signed in 2015.
Advisor to power minister, Balo Raja assured the NEEPCO CMD that he would look into the matter of ensuring security for the NEEPCO officials and address any kind of local issues, and sought early commencement of the Kurung project.
The 1,800 mw Kamala HEP in Kamle district, being implemented by M/s Jindal Power Limited, was also discussed in the meeting. The project, which was started in 2012, has deteriorated since 2014 and has lapsed after 12 years of the signing of the MoU.
During the meeting, HPDCAPL Chairman Toko Onuj was asked to act as the nodal officer to liaison with M/s Jindal Power Ltd, M/s SJVN and the NEEPCO on the Kamala, Kurung, New Meling and Etalin HEPs for acquisition and merger, equity participation, etc.
Besides NEEPCO CMD VK Singh, Kamle MLA Tarin Dakpe, advisor to Arunachal government HK Paliwal, Power Commissioner Prashant Lokhande, Hydropower Development CE (Monitoring) RK Joshi and others attended the meeting. (DCM’s PR Cell)
