Tripura explores electricity export to Nepal, says power minister

Agartala: Tripura is exploring the possibility of exporting electricity to Nepal, Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath said on Friday, adding that the central government will take the final decision after deliberations in New Delhi.

Delivering the inaugural address at the 132 KV Gokulnagar sub-station under the NER Power System Improvement Project at Gokulnagar Rastarmatha Sports Ground, Nath said the state had spent Rs 43.98 crore on the 132/33 KV sub-station, which aims to supply uninterrupted, quality power.

The project will benefit about 48,740 families in Bishalgarh, Office Tilla, Central Jail, Gola Ghati, Madhupur, Sekerkot, Fultali, Bikramnagar, Kamalasagar, and surrounding areas, he said.

“Tripura largely produces power from gas, but gas reserves are depleting. The number of consumers has risen from 7.21 lakh to 10.38 lakh in the seven years of our government, and demand is increasing as modernization progresses. We must modernize our infrastructure to keep pace,” Nath said.

He added that the number of 132 KV sub-stations had risen to 21 from 12 before the current administration, with two more under construction.

The length of 132 KV lines increased from 485 km to 986 km, with an additional 102 circuit km in progress.

The state has set up 75 33 KV sub-stations, up from 44 earlier, with 18 more under construction. The length of underground cables has risen from 95 km to 571 km.

Referring to the Rokhia power plant, the minister said that declining gas supply had reduced generation from an expected 63 MW to about 19 MW.

“With World Bank support, Rs 935 crore will be invested to double generation at Rokhia by adopting combined-cycle gas turbine technology,” he said.

Nath added that a DPR for an 800 MW pumped-storage project at Chawmanu was underway, and a 400 KV sub-station would be set up at Suryamani Nagar.

He also mentioned that the state is already sending power to Bangladesh and has held talks on exporting to Nepal, and that all government offices would be covered under rooftop solar.

Present at the event were Sabhadhipati Supriya Das Datta, MLA Antara Sarkar Deb, Bishalgarh Panchayat Samiti Chairperson Atashi Das, TPTL GM Ranjan Debbarma, and others.