ITANAGAR, Jul 3: Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein while attending the Conference of Power Ministers of all States and UTs convened by the Union Minister of State (IC), Power and New & Renewable Energy R K Singh through a videoconference on Friday, sought special Central financial assistance for revamping the existing power distribution infra of Arunachal Pradesh.
Welcoming the step for infusing liquidity to the tune of Rs 90,000 crore in the power sector under the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan scheme, Mein sought a special consideration for the state under it, reasoning that inhospitable terrain coupled with 5-month annual rainfall, frequent landslides and snowfall make the state's power infra constantly damage-prone. Drawing attention of the Central Minister, he added that a major portion of the existing power infra in the state is very old, dating back to the NEFA times and an immediate and comprehensive financial package is needed to replace the existing transmission lines, substations and transformers with modern ABC cables, SCADA, Smart Grid, High Voltage Distribution Systems etc. The DCM also sought financial support for reducing AT&C losses and gaps in ACS and ARR and proposed to enhance the 15% grant for smart metering and billing to 50% as per the TOTEX model, citing that the amount of recovery from each consumer will be costly.  Informing that the remaining works under Integrated Power Development System & Deen Dayal Upadhyay Yojana schemes in the state are progressing and are likely to be completed by December 2020, he thanked the Union Minister for approving the release of the unspent balance fund under DDUGY for Arunachal Pradesh.  Although the DCM welcomed the proposed amendments in Electricity Act 2003 for providing Selection Committees for appointment in Regulatory Commissions, he also placed the request that the states’ power regarding constitution of State Electricity Regulation Commission should not be taken away since the matter pertains to the Concurrent List.

While stating that implementation of Component-A of Pradhan Mantri-Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) has not been encouraging in Arunachal Pradesh due to various reasons like less solar insulation, lack of proper power evacuation infrastructure and lack of subsidy support, DCM asserted that state government is encouraging the farmers to use solar pumps for increasing productivity.  Continuing his deliberations on the solar power sector, he suggested that government buildings in the NE states may be given subsidy for grid-connected roof top solar projects due to low tariff rate and low solar insulation. He also proposed that Power Grid Corporation of India Limited may be involved to complete the Comprehensive Transmission Scheme in the state which is continuing since 2015, informing along with that the state has already requested Energy Efficiency Services Limited to install smart metres.
Highlighting the huge hydropower potential of Arunachal Pradesh which amounts to almost 40 % of the country, Mein informed that till date the state has harnessed hydropower from Ranganadi HEP(405 MW), Pare HEP (110 MW), Kameng (300 MW), Dikshi (24 MW) and 128 Small Hydro Projects with 63.4 MW capacity. He also informed that the Subansiri HE Project (2000 MW) is on an advanced stage with 2023 the deadline for completion, adding that state government is making all efforts to resolve the land acquisition issue of Dibang Multipurpose Project (2880 MW) including the pending litigation at the High Court by taking into confidence the NHPC and land-affected people. Regarding the status of the Demwe Lower HE Project (1750 MW), DCM informed that the matter is pending in the National Company Law Tribunal and state government is waiting for suitable directions from the higher court for an expeditious disposal of the issue. 
Mein also reminded the Union Power Minister regarding the state’s comprehensive plan for development of 135 small hydro projects of 356 MW capacity across 25 districts, the concept paper of which has already been submitted to the GoI. He stressed that if these projects are completed, the state’s peak power requirements will be mitigated to a great extent and the Union Minister also reciprocated positively by assuring proper evaluation of the plan.
The DCM informed that GoAP had issued notices to the non-performing power developers that had signed MOUs and 74 such projects have already been issued notices and 27 terminated. The terminated projects have been offered to the Ministry of Power for allotting them to any Centre Public Sector Undertaking, he informed, assuring that for developing the hydropower sector, the state is ready to encourage setting up plants either independently or through Joint Ventures.
Among others, Commissioner (Power) G S Meena and the Chief Engineers of Power & Hydropower Departments also participated in the videoconference. DCM Media Cell    

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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