NEEPCO set to be 2000 MW powerhouse

By Our Reporter  

SHILLONG, JAN 5: The North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd (NEEPCO) is all set to become a powerhouse of 2000 MW by 2017 end with the commissioning of three new power projects in the NE region.

“We are busy with the three new projects (which will generate a total of 770 MW of power) which will be commissioned. It is a big task for us but we are on the move,” NEEPCO chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) AG West Kharkongor told reporters after meeting chief minister Mukul Sangma on Thursday.

These include two in Arunachal Pradesh which is of 600MW and 110 MW and one in Mizoram of 60MW.

Informing this, Kharkongor said, “If things go smoothly we will be 2000 MW company by the end of this year.”

The Mawphu project is being implemented by the NEEPCO on the Umiew River at an estimated cost of Rs 453.81 crore and would have a power generation capacity of 85 MW.

“We are expecting to get the pre-investigation clearance sometime in the month of March and September. If everything go well we will start the work for the Mawphu project stage-II by October,” Kharkongor informed.

Asked why the corporation was sidelined by the state government for its power projects which were given to private companies, Kharkongor said, “Many projects are given to private companies in the past but you see for yourself what has happened.”

Stating that NEEPCO is still the prominent sector in the whole power scenario, Kharkongor, however, felt that the awarding state power projects is the prerogative of the states government and it is for them to judge the performance.

On the demand to shift the corporation to Arunachal Pradesh, Kharkongor said everybody wanted NEEPCO to be stationed in their respective states but it is fortunate that it is still in Shillong.