Power Minister R K Singh on Tuesday said development of north-eastern India is a priority for central government and power sector growth is a prerequisite for that.
Singh was speaking during a meeting of Chief Secretaries and Principal Secretaries of Power of north-eastern states in Guwahati on Tuesday.
"Development of north-eastern India is on high priority of the Union Government and a well developed power sector is prerequisite to the economic development in these States, Singh said during the meeting which also attended by senior officers of Power Ministry and representatives of DISCOMS, a power ministry statement said.
In his opening address, Singh recalled the achievements made during the past three to four years in power sector.
However, he cautioned that concerted efforts will have to be made to make the system sustainable.
"In order to redeem our pledge for 24/7 power, we will have to reduce the losses and make the DISCOMS viable," he said.
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He cited example of some of the states which had huge commercial losses but have been able to bring them down to 15 per cent or below.
He urged north-eastern states to adopt smart and prepaid meters to avoid power theft.
Singh also assured all the assistance from the central government to the state governments in creating power infrastructure.
The Minister further stated that grant for central government schemes will be made available to only those states which undertake reforms, viz, reduction of losses etc.
North-eastern India has a huge hydro potential and the states have a major role in hydro-projects by way of facilitating land acquisition and implementing the resettlement and rehabilitation plans.
He called upon all stakeholders to work in close coordination so as to optimally harness the hydro potential.
Development of hydro projects in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh had contributed to the prosperity of those states. Similarly, the states can reap long term benefits out of developed hydro projects, he said.
During the meeting, the minister reviewed various power sector schemes and projects under implementation in the north-eastern states, such as Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) and R-APDRP.
He noted the gaps and directed concerned agencies to speed up the completion of pending work and advised states to extend necessary help in getting statutory clearances.
It may be noted that new projects worth Rs 1,797.43 crore have been sanctioned under IPDS for the region.
On the occasion, a power purchase agreement was also signed between Arunachal Pradesh and state-run hydro giant NHPC Ltd for supply of power from 2,000 MW Subansiri lower hydroelectric project.