Tripura: NRPMC meeting to be held on August 8

Agartala, Jul 21: The Union Power Ministry has convened a meeting of the Northeastern Regional Power Ministers Committee (NRPMC) on August 8 to discuss the allocation of power to the different states of the region.

The Northeastern (NE) states have been demanding for setting up a common transmission line for supplying the power generated at the 740 MW Palatana power project in Tripura.

Addressing the media here today, state Power Minister Manik Dey said the NRPMC had already forwarded the demand to the Northeastern Council (NEC) and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) to erect the transmission line up to Bongaigaon of Assam from Palatana.

Meanwhile, the Union Power Ministry has reallocated the share among the Northeastern states, cancelling the allocation bid of Delhi and Haryana. In this regard, the highest amount of power (245 MW) would be given to Assam followed by Tripura (200 MW), while Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram would get 81, 43, 27, 22 and 22 MW out of 740 MW, respectively.

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) announced that Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) emerged as the lowest bidder for project construction contract for the 740 MW gas-based Palatana power project in South Tripura, which had outbid internationally acclaimed Alstom.

The ONGC Tripura Power Company (P) Ltd (OTPC) was jointly developed by the ONGC, the Tripura government and the IL &FS to mobilise the abandoned natural gas for power generation.

The power from the Palatana project was initially meant to be allocated to Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi (100 MW each) in the northern region as well as Assam and Tripura (100 MW each) in the northeastern region.

Keeping in mind that NER constituent states are due to receive the entire quantum of power generated at the project, the Power Ministry has recommended that the associated 650 km 400 KV double circuit transmission line from Palatana to Bongaigaon should be implemented through a joint venture company formed between the Power Grid Corporation, OTPC, IL &FS and the NE states.

UNI