The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the revised cost estimate (RCE) of the North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) at an estimated cost of Rs 6,700 crore.
The scheme is being implemented through the Power Grid Corporation Of India (POWERGRID), a public sector undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Power in association with six beneficiary North-Eastern states -- Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura and is targeted to be commissioned by December 2021.
After commissioning, the project will be owned and maintained by the respective North Eastern State Utilities.
The main objective of the project is government commitment for total economic development of the North-Eastern Region and to strengthen intra-state transmission & distribution infrastructure in the region.
The implementation of the scheme will create a reliable power grid and improve NER states' connectivity to the upcoming load centres, and thus extend the benefits of the grid connected power to all categories of consumers.
The scheme will also increase the per capita power consumption of these states and contribute to the total economic development of the region.
The scheme was initially approved in December 2014 as a Central Sector Plan Scheme of Ministry of Power and is being funded with assistance of the World Bank and by the Centre through the budget support of the Ministry of Power on 50:50 basis except for the capacity building component for Rs 89 crore, which will be entirely funded by the government of India.
