NE behind national average in total rural electrification plan

Guwahati, Apr 4 (UNI) North East India is still to catch up with the rest of the country in terms of implementation of the ambitious total rural electrification plan of the Centre with the region lagging behind by about ten per cent of the national average.

Out of the total 40,377 inhabited villages as per 2001 census in NE, including Sikkim, 29,626 villages, constituting 73.4 per cent, had been electrified till January this year. This was against the national average of 82 per cent.

Among the NE states, Sikkim has the highest percentage of 94.4 per cent villages that have been electrified, followed by Manipur with 84.4 per cent villages and Mizoram with 80.6 per cent.

In Assam, 78.6 villages have been electrified, in Arunachal Pradesh 56.8 per cent, Meghalaya 59.3 per cent, Nagaland 64.4 per cent and Tripura 57.2 per cent.

Moreover, the household electrification in the region is 24 per cent as against the national average of 43.52 per cent. During the tenth plan period, 16 projects at an estimated cost of Rs 415 crore covering 1666 un-electrified villages and 3,32,424 households, including BPL, had been sanctioned.

And for the elenenth plan, 45 projects at an estimated cost of Rs 1922 crore covering 9494 un-electrified villages and 15,30,546 households, including BPL, have been sanctioned. Fund requirement for rural electrification during the eleventh plan is about Rs 3800 crore.

UNI SG SJC RL BST1906