All-out efforts underway to make Tripura self-reliant in electricity: Minister

Tripura Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath said on Monday that all-out efforts, including building of necessary infrastructures, were undertaken keeping in mind the goal that the state's electricity demand would increase to 700 MW in the 2031-32 financial year.

The Power Minister said that the state government, with the help of the Centre, would make Tripura self-reliant in electricity.

The minister after laying the foundation stone for the reconductoring of HTLS (High-Temperature Low-Sag) conductors of nine 132 kV transmission lines at a function in Bodhjung Nagar, adjacent to Agartala city, said that without power, development is not possible, and for that, the Power Department is working to modernize the sector to provide uninterrupted power supply across the state.

A total of Rs 126.33 crore would be spent on this project. Nath said that Tripura Power Transmission Limited (TPTL) has taken the initiative to modernize the power transmission system in Tripura with the financial assistance of the Special Infrastructure Development Project of the Development of the North Eastern Region (DoNER) Ministry.

“We are working to provide 24 hours of power supply against existing 23 hours, and due to many reasons including power theft, overloading, and storms, we fail to give an uninterrupted supply,” said the minister.

He said that if we shut down schools for three days, there will be no major problem, but if we do the same with electricity, then there will be a huge problem.

“Earlier trains used to run on coal, but now on diesel; however, this hampers the environment. But now trains in Tripura will run on electric engines, which will be inaugurated at Agartala Railway Station on August 27. We are trying to run trains and vehicles by electricity. There will be no gas or diesel-based vehicles. We are now changing lines, and within one year, the entire work will be completed.”

The Minister said that the state government has been encouraging people to generate their own electricity using solar energy through the centrally sponsored PM Surya Ghar scheme.

PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana (PMSGMBY) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2024.