World Bank to provide more than 2,000 cr for development of power projects in North East

By Newsgram Staff Writer

The World Bank will provide a 'North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project' aid for the development and expansion of infrastructure in the power sector in north-eastern states. The Bank will provide 50% of the Rs. 5,111 crore power project of Indian Government in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura. The remaining amount will be shared by the central Government and the concerned states.

The State-owned Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL) will execute the World Bank-aided projects in six of the eight north-eastern states of India.

Of the Rs.5,111 crore, Assam would get the highest share of Rs.1,473.80 crore followed by Tripura (Rs.1,372.20 crore), Meghalaya (Rs.776.93 crore), Nagaland (Rs.729.42 crore), Manipur (Rs.442.22 crore) and Mizoram (Rs.316.76 crore), PGCIL chairman-cum-managing director R.N. Nayak said.

PGCIL and the Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited has already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to execute the World Bank-aided project in the state which will be completed in three years.

The project would see the setting up of over 3,488km long high power transmission lines along with the construction of many power transmission sub-stations .The project will also include modernizing the existing transmission system.

World Bank's senior energy analyst Rohit Mittal said the project would help in the economic growth of the north-eastern region.