The Ministry of Power hopes to resolve the dispute between Arunachal Pradesh and Assam over the Lower Subansiri Hydro Power Project by next month. The project, is one of the largest hydro power projects in Arunachal Pradesh and would have eight units of 250 MW each to produce 7,421 million units of electricity annually.
“The dispute with Assam has delayed the project. But we are looking to resolve the dispute by next month after calling officials from Assam,” said Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy on Tuesday. Goyal was speaking at an event on hydropower orgranised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
The project is being developed by public sector hydro power developer NHPC and the project cost has gone up by about ₹1,200 crore due to forced suspension of work since December 2011. The company has already spent ₹6,600 crore.
The other hydro power project on the river, Jindal Power’s 1,800 MW Subansiri Middle, has also been delayed by several years. The reason for delay has been the inability of fund raising by Jindal Power’s partner in the project, Hydro Power Development Corporation of Arunachal Pradesh Limited (HPDCAPL).
Meanwhile, Goyal also said that next week the Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation for a transmission line from Leh to Kargil to Srinagar. This would be the first such transmission line in the region.