3 pending projects to be completed soon will improve State's power scenario: Pallab Lochan Dispur’s efforts to generate adequate power to meet demand have yielded little fruit despite thousands of crores sunk by the previous Congress government. Low power generation by its own power projects has forced Assam Power Generation Company Limited (APGCL) to procure huge amounts of power through power exchange. The APGCL now procures from 1,380 mw to 1,400 MW power every day. This, despite the previous Congress government’s power reform scheme in 2004 under which thousands of crores were spent. The APGCL currently generates only 250 to 270 MW against a requirement of 1,650 MW in peak hours and 850 MW in off-peak hours. To meet demand, the State government had planned to revive three state-run power plants but the projects have not been completed even after crossing of deadlines. The Namrup Replacement Power Project (NRPP), executed by Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL) with a power generation capacity of 100 MW was targeted to be commissioned in January, 2012 — but even after five years, the project with a cost of Rs 693 has not seen the light of day. Another power plant— Myntriang Small Hydro Electric Project (MSHEP) with a capacity of 10.5 MW—was targeted to be commissioned in February 2011, but the project is yet to take off. The Rs 145.95 crore project is being executed by Hydarabad based company Saradha Eco Power Limited. Similarly, the 70-MW Lakwa Replacement Power Project (LRPP) has been targeted to be commissioned in March 2018 but only 50% construction works of the project has been completed as on May this year. The project, being executed by Wartsila India Private Limited & Wartsila Finland Oy Consortium with a cost of Rs 162 crore,is not likely to meet its deadline. The APGCL’s average daily power generation in 2001-02 was 140 MW, which increased to 240 MW in 2013-14. Generation slightly increased to 250 MW in 2014-15, while in 2015-16, it dipped to 245 MW. However, with just 220 MW in 2016-17, the APGCL’s power generation has taken a turn for the worse. When contacted, State Power Minister Pallab Lochan Das informed that to solve the power-shortage problem, the State Power department is planning to complete the 3 power projects as soon as possible. “We have given utmost importance on completion of these three projects as early as possible to meet the power demands. The projects were delayed because the previous Congress government did not release enough funds on time. The previous government did not even complete the forest clearance work of some projects,” Das told The Sentinel. The Power Minister further said that the State government will not tolerate any negligence in the completion of these projects. He said that as the government has targeted to electrify every village of the State, improving power generation is a priority for his department.