Darugiri project
SHILLONG: The North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) will start the work on 500MW thermal power project at Darugiri in the East Garo Hills once all the issues pertaining to the project including establishment of coal linkage are resolved.
Indicating this here on Monday, NEEPCO Director (technical) V K Singh denied that the PSU dumped the project following NGT ban on coal mining in the state.
The Meghalaya Government had inked a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with NEEPCO in 2011 to develop a 500MW thermal power project in the East Garo Hills.
The PSU requires about 600 acres of land to develop the plant and will require 1.70 million tonnes of coal per annum when the project is commissioned. The project coast is estimated at Rs 3000 crore.
Speaking to The Shillong Times, Singh said that three power projects, being executed by NEEPCO in the North-East, are currently in the final stage of completion.
“All the three projects are likely to be commissioned within one and half year time,” he said.
“Once we commission all three projects, our (NEEPCO) generation capacity will be more than 2000 mw,” he said, adding that even now NEEPCO produces around 40 percent of the total power required by the region.
Stating that North East region has a huge scope of hydro power generation, he, however, rued that not even 10 percent of the total potentials had been tapped
He also pointed out that the Centre has taken several initiatives to promote hydro power in the country.
