708 villages electrified in NE states

Shillong, June 11 (UNI) About 708 remote villages have been electrified in the North Eastern States so far under the Remote Village Electrification (RVE) Programme of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, an official statement said today.

Another 1167 projects are under implementation in several villages across the Northeastern States.

In Meghalaya, about 25 villages have been electrified with 72 projects under implementation. The Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) has identified a list of 2,710 remote villages and hamlets where grid connectivity is either not feasible or cost-effective, According to the statement, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has also urged the states governments to prepare proposals for electrification of these villages, even as it accorded special attention to this region as low consumption levels of electric power characterised the entire region and a large number of villages are too remote to be electrified through grid extension.

An amount of Rs 48.3 crore has been allocated as 10 per cent of the Gross Budgetary Support for NE Region during 2007-08 under the various renewable energy programmes of the Ministry, the statement said.

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