The Centrally-sponsored North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) is targeted for completion by December 2021, a recent government release said.
NERSIP is being implemented by Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) and will benefit six northeastern states – Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. It may be noted that while PGCIL will commission the project, the project, on commissioning, will be owned and maintained by the respective state power utilities of the aforementioned six beneficiaries.
Recently, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the revised cost of NERPSIP of Rs.6,700 crore. The objective of NERPSIP is to strengthen the intrastate power transmission and distribution systems of the northeastern region, with a view to holistic economic development of India’s northeastern region (NER).
“Implementation of this scheme will create a reliable power grid and improve NER States’ connectivity to the upcoming load centers, and thus extend the benefits of the grid connected power to all categories of consumers of beneficiaries in North Eastern Region,” the release said.
| NERPSIP: Summary of works | |||||||
| State | Transmission (132kV & above) | Distribution (up to 33kV) | |||||
| Lines (ckm) | SS (nos) | MVA* | Lines (ckm) | SS (nos) | MVA* | ||
| Assam | 376 | 11 | 1,644 | 479 | 16 | 240 | |
| Manipur | 317 | 2 | 160 | 111 | 13 | 229 | |
| Meghalaya | 416 | 4 | 940 | 263 | 11 | 135 | |
| Mizoram | 214 | 3 | 125 | 5 | 1 | 6 | |
| Nagaland | 376 | 5 | 245 | 77 | 10 | 190 | |
| Tripura | 415 | 8 | 1,307 | 1,096 | 34 | 451 | |
| Total | 2,114 | 33 | 4,421 | 2,031 | 85 | 1,251 | |
| *Includes new and augmentation; SS = substations | |||||||
Employment opportunities
The government release observed that project implementation agencies are hiring a considerable number of local manpower during their construction works, generating a lot of employment for skilled and unskilled manpower of the northeastern region.
Further after completion, additional manpower will be required for O&M of these newly created assets as per standard norms, generating considerable additional employment opportunities for North Eastern Region States.
Separate scheme for Arunachal and Sikkim
It may be mentioned that the road-map for development of power sector specifying the need for strengthening of overall transmission, sub-transmission and distribution system of NER and Sikkim was brought out in the “Pasighat Proclamation on Power” released during the first Sectoral Summit of North Eastern Council at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh in January 2007.
Under the subject project, implementation of the scheme in the six aforementioned states was envisaged. Implementation in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh was envisaged under a separate project funded by the Central government.
Cost Revisions
The sanction for NERPSIP was accorded by Government of India in December 2014 at an estimated cost of Rs.5111.33 crore (February 2014 price level). The total sanctioned cost included Rs.5022.33 crore of project cost and Rs.89 crore towards capacity building. The project cost is being shared by Government of India (GoI) and World Bank on a 50:50 basis. The capacity building cost, however, is being borne entirely by GoI.
(Featured photograph for illustration only)
