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| Headlines Vol. 3 Issue No. 19 | February 1 -15, 2007 |
Centre to promote small hydro power units in NE In a bid to boost economic activities in the North-eastern region, the Government proposes to encourage setting up small hydro power (SHP) projects in the region through subsidies and involving private sector participation, reports PTI. “There is a need for a clear, coherent and consistent policy in respect of the power sector in the region, especially as the power sector constitutes the most important resource of the region and holds the highest potential to propel the region to the front rank of development in the country,” Union DoNER Minister Mani Shanker Aiyar told reporters. Aiyar, who chaired the first sectoral summit of the North Eastern Council (NEC) which reviewed the power sector programmes in the region, told reporters that the existing structure of SHP was proving inadequate for accelerated implementation in NER. Though as many as 492 SHP projects have been identified in Arunachal Pradesh, only 64 have been implemented, 48 were under construction and the remaining were still far from being implementable, he said. Aiyar said there was a need for restructuring SHP so that the level of subsidies ensures accelerated implementation of all identified SHP projects in the region which have been designed to generate over 2,000 MW without complicated problems of transmission and distribution. “In the short run, the NER could only be developed through very special measures of affirmative action,” Aiyar said adding if the efforts were taken to exploit the potential of power sector in the region, the benefits would flow to all parts of the country. Asked whether private sector would be involved in the SHP projects, he said private sector was welcome to enter the sector whether on its own or in collaboration with public sector. In striking contrast to the addition of 25,000 MW to the generating capacity in the rest of the country in the Tenth Plan, involving an investment of about Rs 60,000 crore, there has been not a single MW added in the Tenth Plan to investment in hydel projects in the region and only marginal investment in thermal energy sources, he said. A massive stepping up of public sector investment in power in the region in the Eleventh Plan was envisaged, Aiyar said adding that outstanding issues relating to the 2000 MW Lower Subansiri project should be sorted out immediately by the Centre in consultation with the state governments of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. He said the NEC would be discussing the road and highways sector in Shillong on February eight and nine, issues of inland waterways and flood control on March 21 and 22 in Guwahati and horticulture in Gangtok on April 13 and 14.
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