The state government will partner with NEEPCO and other public sector utilities (PSUs) for power project deals that had been signed with private companies but subsequently cancelled.
This was revealed by Power Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, who cast aspersions on the previous government for signing such agreements with private players.
In April, the government cancelled the agreement signed with private players for the Kynshi Stage 1 and 2 hydroelectric power projects.
Stage 1 was entrusted to Athena Power Pvt Ltd and Stage 2 to the JayPee Group. According to the minister, the land that would be affected by the project touches areas dominated by uranium deposits and this is one factor that prevented it going forward.
Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed with private companies in 2007 but “till today not a single project has seen the light of day,” Tynsong said.
NEEPCO and “a few” private investors are still interested, however. The minister was adamant that the government has not had to bear a single paisa in cost for these private projects but the state has lost out in terms of time.
