Arunachal Pradesh Turns Power Surplus As PM Modi Inaugurated 600 MW Kameng Hydro Power Project

Border state of Arunachal Pradesh has turned power surplus after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 600 MW Kameng Hydro Power Station on Saturday (19 November).

The project stretches over more than 80 kilometers in West Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh.

NEEPCO Limited, a Mini Ratna PSU under the Ministry of Power implemented this hydro project at a cost of over Rs 8,450 crore.

The project has two dams and a powerhouse having four units of 150 MW to generate 3,353 million units of electricity.

It is a run-of-river scheme which will utilize the flows from Bichom and Tenga Rivers which are tributaries of River Kameng.

“Generation of 3353 Million Units annually from the project will make Arunachal Pradesh a power surplus state with huge benefits to the National Grid in terms of grid stability and integration and balancing of solar and wind energy sources in the grid,” the Ministry of Power said.

“It will be a major step towards fulfilling the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of the Government of India pledged under Paris Agreement 2015. The project will form part of projected hydro capacity addition of 30,000 MW by 2030,” it added.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) of Congress led UPA-1 cleared this hydro power project in December 2004 at Rs 2,496 crore with a time of completion of five years.

However, this crucial project got delayed and was inaugurated by PM Modi yesterday.

NEEPCO has listed various factors like design change of primary structures, geological surprises, devastating flash floods, contractual issues for this delay of over a decade.