Manipur CM assures 3.5 lakh pre-paid meters by December

IMPHAL, October 4: Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh, who is also the chairman of North Eastern Regional Power Committee (NERPC), today said his government is targeting to provide 3.5 lakh prepaid meters to the electric consumers of the four valley districts and to those of district headquarters and sub-divisional headquarters of the hill districts of Manipur by December 2016.
He stated this while speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural function of the 17th Technical Coordination Committee meeting of the NERPC held at Hotel Classic Grande, Imphal.
The NERPC which attended power department officials from seven NE states was organized by Manipur State Power Company Limited (MSPCL).
Chief Minister Ibobi also said the State government is targeting to commission 400 KV sub-station being constructed at Thoubal very soon. For this, he urged the Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) to expedite works for the upgradation of 132 KV sub-station at Yurembam to 400 KV sub-station since the 400 KV sub-station at Thoubal is to be supplied from 400 KV sub-station at Yurembam in Imphalk West district.
Besides this, he also appealed to the Power Grid to expedite the projects taken up by them under the World Bank for development of power infrastructures in the state.
Expressing his unhappiness over the slow progress in the implementation of these projects he wished that the projects be transferred to state government saying that the construction of 400KV sub-station at Thoubal is being targeted to complete within a record time of one year, Chief Minister continued.
Mentioning that the present peak demand of power in the state is 140 MW, Ibobi said that with the commissioning the two 400 KV substations around 1000 MW capacity of power will be available in the state which would be enough for the state’s power requirement for the next 20/30 years.
He also mentioned that in addition to the already commissioned 400 KV line from Silchar to Imphal, the state government has already proposed another 400 KV line from Misa(Assam) via New Kohima and Mariani(Assam) to make a loop for sustained power supply.
The day’s inauguration meeting was attended SD Dubey, chairman of Central Electricity Authority, PK Mishra, member secretary of NERPC, S Ganguly, MD OTPC, N Sarat Singh, managing director MSPCL and chairman TCC.
The officials concerned of seven North East States and stakeholders like Power Grid, NEEPCO, NHPC etc. also attended the meeting which is held annually to discuss and solve the issues in the power sector in the region.