Five hydropower projects with a total
installed capacity of 2626 MW are in the pipeline in Shi-Yomi district of
Arunachal Pradesh, said Chief Minister Pema Khandu.
He said all these five projects to be
set up in four places would be executed by the North Eastern Electric Power
Corporation Limited (NEEPCO), a government of Bharat enterprise.
“We have challenges in terms of
difficult terrains and topography. We need to convert these challenges into
resources and hydropower is one way of doing it,” said Khandu.
Of the five hydropower projects, two
will come up at district headquarters Tato with capacities of 700 MW and 186
MW. The three others will be set up at Heo (240 mw), Naying (1000 mw) and
Hirong (500 mw).
Khandu said the projects would be
executed by NEEPCO, replacing private agencies engaged earlier.
“These projects were to be executed by
private companies that had entered into MoUs with previous state governments
but they failed. We made it a point that only trustworthy agencies with
expertise and central government backup will be engaged,” he said.
Urging the people of the district to
cooperate with the executing agencies, the chief minister said the entire State
would benefit from the projects as it would get a share of 12 per cent free
power.
Shi-Yomi will get a 2 per cent share, Khandu
informed a gathering at a function celebrating the Podi Barbi festival of the
Bokar (Adi) community at Monigong in the district on Tuesday.
“Our objective is development of our
villages. The more the state government earn, the more we invest in
developmental projects,” Khandu added.
“The state’s revenue in 2016 was Rs 900
crore. Then we formed our government and went for drastic reforms. You will not
believe that in 2023, our state’s own revenue clocked Rs 3,500 crore,” he said.
PTI
