Arunachal Dy CM proposes India-Bhutan power line for electricity exchange

GUWAHATI/ITANAGAR, March 29 (IANS): Arunachal Pradesh deputy chief minister Chowna Mein on Monday asked the North East Regional Power Committee (NERPC) to carry out a feasibility study for establishment of a 132 KV transmission line between Lumla in his state and the 600 MW Kholongchu Hydro-Electric Power Station in Bhutan.
The 600 MW Kholongchu Hydro-Electric Power plant in Bhutan is about 40 km aerially from Lumla in Tawang.
Attending the NERPC meeting in Guwahati, Mein, who also holds the power portfolio, said: “The NERPC may come out with a tangible policy decision as per norms associated with international exchange of electricity.”
He also requested the NERPC members to support this idea as it would help to make a pragmatic initiative and improve the reliability of both the power grids of India and Bhutan besides meeting the electricity demand.
Mein congratulated the state-owned North East Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) for successfully commissioning the 600 MW Kameng Hydro Electric Project (HEP) by putting the last and final unit into commercial operation on February 12. He also requested the NEEPCO to carry on at the same tempo to take up all the new projects in Arunachal Pradesh — 120 MW Nafra HEP, 90 MW New Malling HEP in Tawang and 330 MW Kuru HEP.
He said that the construction of the 2,000 MW Subansiri Lower Hydro Electric Project resumed in October 2019 by National Hydro Power Corporation and two of its units with a capacity of 500 MW each would become operational by August this year. He also urged the NEEPCO engineers to work hard further to ensure completion of the entire project in August next year as scheduled.
Noting that Arunachal Pradesh is a young state in the area of power transmission systems, Mein said that despite this, they have achieved significant development in building infrastructure in other areas and have gained momentum significantly to catch up with the sister states of the northeast region and the rest of the country as well.