Power Ministers of NE states to meet tomorrow

Power ministers from the eight Northeastern states will meet here tomorrow to find out ways and means to manage the huge power deficit in the region, officials said.
At the meeting, the member states, which constitute the North Eastern Regional Power Committee (NERPC), will assess the ongoing power projects in the region.
Besides signing of power purchase agreement, liquidation of outstanding dues of various utilities and all technical and commercial issues, among others will be discussed in the meeting, a spokesperson of the Meghalaya Electricity Corporation Ltd said.
A host of important decisions are expected to be taken on issues such as construction of new transmission lines and sub-stations in the North East region to address congestions, upgrade of old transmission lines, sub-stations, installation of optical ground wire and associated equipment and approval of reliable communication systems in the region, he said.

Power Ministers from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Tripura and host Meghalaya have already confirmed their attendance, the others are also expected to arrive today, he said.
The technical session of the meeting have already met today to decide on a lot of issues relating to power transmissions and on how to overcome the deficits.

The NERPC is a regional forum established by the Centre to facilitate stable, smooth, economic, efficient and integrated operation of power system in the North East and other functions as mandated by the Electricity Act 2003, and other provisions.
The forum comprises Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura.

Apart from the seven northeastern states, representatives of the central PSUs, Power Grid, Power System Operation Corporation, NEEPCO, NTPC, NHPC, OTPC, PTC, NVVN and other stakeholders in the power sectors are also constituents of NERPC.