The Centrally-sponsored North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) is progressing well and is expected to fully commission by March 2025.
According to a latest report by Central Electricity Authority (CEA), only five project elements involving 18 ckm of lines and 170 MVA of transformation capacity are pending. These unfinished packages are located in Nagaland (two packages) and Tripura (three packages). NERSIP has been fully completed in the remaining states – Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram.
Arunachal Pradesh, a northeastern state, is out of the NERPSIP’s purview as it is covered, along with Sikkim, in a separate Centrally-sponsored programme titled “Comprehensive Scheme of Transmission & Distribution System in Arunachal Pradesh & Sikkim.”
The CEA report observes that the two unfinished packages in Nagaland are both related to substations. The first entails upgrading of the existing 66/33kV Tuensang substation to 132/33kV level, and the second is building of the new 2×25 MVA, 132/33kV Pfutsero substation. Both these packages have been pending for a very long time owing to technical reasons and practical difficulties.
The Tuensang substation package award was delayed due to reluctance of vendors, in turn owing to tough topographic conditions. The package was finally awarded in August 2023 to Power Mech Projects and it is learnt that the GIS substation project is moving ahead with respect to land acquisition and equipment erection.
Work on the Pfutsero substation was severely hampered due to land sinking at the adjacent highway. It is learnt that experts from IIT-Guwahati have been engaged for devising a solution to land-sinking problems. Currently, the substation is on track with 94 per cent equipment erection completed.
The three pending packages in Tripura relate to new 33/11kV substations at Manughat and Dhumachhera, and reconductoring of the Mohanpur-Agartala line (18 ckm). All these three packages are expected to commission soon. In fact, a part of the Mohanpur-Agartala line has already been reconductored and charged.
Background
Approved by the Central government in December 2014, NERSIP is a comprehensive power T&D upgrade programme covering the northeastern states (except Arunachal Pradesh), and has Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) as the implementation agency. Originally envisaged to cost Rs.5,111.33 crore (February 2014) level, the revised cost estimate of NERSIP currently stands at Rs.6,700 crore. Government of India and World Bank are financing this project on 50:50 basis. While NERSIP was originally scheduled to complete in December 2018, the project is now foreseen to commission only by March 2025.
Expenditure
Up to November 30, 2024, a total sum of Rs.5,162.51 crore was released towards NERSIP and the total funds spent on the project as of given date stood at Rs.5,005.82 crore. Nearly half of the total expenditure incurred on NERPSIP has been in Assam and Tripura.
Also read:NERPSIP makes good progress in FY25
Featured photograph (source: sgipl.com) is for representation only.
