Northeast India has Capacity to Light up Half of India

By Raju Das

Shillong, Aug 1 : The Northeast has the potential to “light up half of India” with its huge power potential, but most of the proposed hydel power projects here have hit roadblocks.

Arunachal Pradesh alone has the potential of producing 50,000 MW of power. The Northeast as a whole has the potential of producing about 70,000 MW of power. However, most of the proposals have hit roadblocks.

Due to various bottlenecks the region is producing just two to three per cent of its actual potential. “The figure is dismal. Some of the power projects have not been cleared, others are being opposed,” NEEPCO chairman and managing director, IP Barooah said at a conference on ‘Empowering North East’ jointly organized by the State Government and the Indian Chamber of Commerce at Pinewood Hotel here on Saturday.

The NEEPCO CMD said that the region must think in terms of having a uniform hydel power policy so that the power sector can be developed in a coordinated manner.

Chief Minister Mukul Sangma during the inauguration of the conference said, the rest of the country was having the wrong impression about the region and that needs to be corrected.

Sangma said there was “lack of knowledge” in the rest of the country about the potentials of the region, which has historically been a victim of ‘negativism’. “It is therefore important for this region to partner with the neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal and other South East Asian countries. The potentialities in trade and commerce must be exploited between the Northeast and its surrounding countries,” he emphasised.

He also urged the Northeastern States to think in terms of having public-private partnerships to produce “green energy” through judicial exploitation of the huge hydro power potential in the region rather than exploiting fossil to the detriment of the fragile environment.

ICC Director General Rajeev Singh assured of continuing support for “inclusive developmental activities”, especially in the power sector in the Northeast, which has the second highest hydro-power potential in the country.

The conference is being attended by major industries in the power sector apart from representatives from Bangladesh and Bhutan.