Fin Min to review Manarchak power project

AGARTALA: The union finance ministry has convened a high-level meeting to review the status of the 280 mw Manarchak power project in West Tripura district, official sources said on Satarday.

Representatives of ministry of Power, Petroleum and Natural gas and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) are expected to attend the meeting on the gas-based power project, the sources said here. The meeting is likely to be held on July 25.

The meeting has assumed significance keeping in view the earlier decision of the Finance ministry, in last December, to "abandon" the power project which caused resentment among political parties in the state.

An all-party delegation, led by Tripura Power Minister Manik Dey, recently called on Union Minister of Power Sushil Kumar Shinde advocated for revival of the project.

The delegation also informed Shinde that the NEEPCO has already spent over Rs 40 crore for setting up the power generation unit and inked a power sale agreement with Assam, Tripura and Mizoram.

In the wake of the demand made by the representatives from the state, the Union Power Minister in a letter on July 15 requested Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram to reconsider the decision in view of the requirment of power in the region in the coming days, the sources said.