Kohima: Nagaland Chief Minister T. R. Zeliang called on Union Minister of Power Piyush Goyal in New Delhi on Friday and discussed the latest power position in Nagaland.
An official release issued on Saturday said Zeliang apprised Goyal of the acute shortage of power in the state which was affecting both work and business.
He informed the minister that the actual power requirement of the state was 80 MW whereas the state hardly received 30 MW. He further said lack of power had prevented many youths from setting up small scale industries in the state.
Goyal assured Zeliang that the Power Ministry would provide 80 MW to the state in a year’s time if the state government provided support in building infrastructure, Right of Way (RoW) and removal of bottlenecks.
He also urged the chief minister to allow NEEPCO to execute the two Hydro Power Projects at Tizu and Zungki which would benefit the state by about 30 MW free powers supply.
Goyal asked Zeliang to convey the state’s approval of these two projects so that it could be announced during the likely visit of the prime minister during Hornbill festival.
He expressed concern about the slow progress of the Re-structured Accelerated Power Development Reform Programme implementation in the state and urged the chief minister to complete the scheme in 9 towns for which money has already been released by the Centre.
On the issue of bringing transparency in the system, Goyal requested Zeliang to immediately stop manual tendering and adopt e-tendering system.
Officers of the Union Power Ministry also drew the attention of Zeliang to the slow pace of implementation of rural electrification work and commissioning of substations under RGGVY programme. (UNI)
