From Manipur, the meeting was attended by chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and power minister of Manipur Phunzathang Tonsing.
Others who participated include power minister of Tripura, Manik Dey, power minister of Nagaland, DY Sema, member secretary of NERPC, BK Jain and other officials and representatives.
Making his observation at the meet, Ibobi maintained that development of Manipur solely depends on electric power and the government would strive to meet the constantly increasing demand for power in the state which is expected to be around 445 megawatts (MW) in the few years to come.
Manipur has great potential for harnessing hydroelectricity and the Tipaimukh Power Project which is to be jointly undertaken by the state government along with NHPC and Satluj Jal Vidyut Ltd. would cater the necessary power requirement of not only Manipur but also for other NE states, Ibobi said.
He asserted that the various flagship programmes which are to be taken up under Rajiv Gandhi Grammin Vidyut Yojna (RGGVY) and Accelerated Power Development Reforms Programme-II would really help the NE states in terms of rural electrification and generation of more power to meet the increasing power demands.
Power minister of Manipur, Phunzathang Tonsing stated that power scenario in the northeastern region (NER) is far below satisfaction with the present effective capacity of about 2108 MW, out of which 1268 MV is from the hydroelectric generation and 840 MW from thermal and gas generations.
The projected peak power demand of NER in January 2010 is about 1818.1 MW but the projected availability is only 1413.2 MW thereby leaving a deficit of 22.7 percent despite the availability of rich hydro and thermal potentials, he added.
He further maintained that the present condition of power supply in NER would be improved dramatically after the commission of the ongoing power projects of Kameng (600 MW), Lower Subansiri (2000 MW), Bongaigaon (750 MW) and Pallatana (740 MW).
Power minister of Tripura, Manik Dey firmly stated that NERPC plays a vital role in ensuring efficient and reliable power system in the northeastern region in the light of national objective of “ power for all by 2012”.
He also stated that the limitation of transmission network in NER is a major setback in the transmission of power from the state to the grid and from the grid to the state as well as in matters of interstate transmission.
Power minister of Nagaland, DY Sema observed that the problems faced by all the NE states are identical and a long term policy is necessary to redress the grievances of the people.
He further appealed the people of northeast to stand unitedly for the welfare and upliftment of the region which has been neglected by the mainland Indians for quite a long time.
During the business session, the chairman of NERPC Phunzathang Tonsing directed the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) to sign the bulk power transmission agreement (BPTA) within seven days without maintaining any condition.
It may be called that all other NE states have already signed the BPTA except the state of Assam for which ASEB had earlier taken a firm decision to exclude the four transmission lines of Silchar-Imphal, Silchar-Melriat, Silchar-PK Bari and Pallatana-Surajmaninaga which come under the projects entrusted to Power Grid Corporation as per the BPT Agreement.