Will resolve Subansiri dam impasse soon: Goyal

GUWAHATI: Reiterating that the Centre was committed to resolving the impasse over the 2000 MW Lower Subansiri hydro-electric project in Arunachal Pradesh through dialogue, Union minister of state for coal, power and renewable energy Piyush Goyal said he would have a meeting anti-dam groups, experts and other stakeholders soon.
Interacting with reporters across the country through video conferencing on Sunday, Goyal said that initially the meeting was planned to be held on September 12, but had to be postponed because of by-election in Assam.
Assam is located in the downstream of the project. Anti-dam groups in the state have almost stopped construction of the project for the last three years fearing environmental impact and displacement of people.
“We will meet for discussions on the Lower Subansiri project soon after the bypolls are over. We are committed to resolving the impasse through extensive dialogue,” Goyal said.
The minister in July this year skirted controversy by giving the go-ahead to the project. After Assam BJP which is against the project, intervened, Goyal retracted his earlier statement and assured that there would be no construction before having dialogues with all the groups.
The minister, who was speaking on the achievement of his ministries (coal, power and renewable energy) in 100 days of the Narendra Modi govermment, also emphasized on tapping northeast’s hydro-power potential by expediting environment clearance processes through time-bound action plans. He said the region’s hydro-power potential would help the northeast to sell surplus power.
On the delay in the commissioning of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)’s 750 MW plant in Assam’s Kokrajhar district, Goyal said one of the three units of the plant would start generating power from this year. He said the delay in completion of the project was primarily because of agitation in the Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD).
The minister also said that the Centre would mobilize its own resources to fund power transmission projects in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim without the support of external lending agencies. The external lending agencies earlier had refused to fund projects in these two states fearing objection from China.
Goyal said India is a self-respecting country and it would generate its own funds for power transmission projects in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.