Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein sees a massive future in water power. He told a New Delhi conference on September 19 that the state holds the key to India’s energy security. It offers a stable partner for wind and solar power. Hydropower is the state’s engine.
Mein manages the state's power portfolio. He pushed the case for prioritizing hydro development as a national strategy rather than a local one. The numbers are big. "Arunachal Pradesh has an assessed hydropower potential of nearly 58,000 MW, accounting for around 40 per cent of the country’s total hydropower potential. The state has set a target of harnessing 40,000 MW of hydropower capacity by 2047," he said.
Growth is already moving fast. Capacity jumped from 405 MW in 2016 to 2,270 MW today. This follows the launch of the Subansiri Lower Project. The state's Decade of Hydropower 2025-35 vision aims for another 19,000 MW. This plan requires an investment of Rs 1.9 lakh crore. Work is already underway on 19,000 MW worth of projects, including one massive 4,880 MW site.
The boom promises jobs. Expect 30,000 direct roles and 16,000 indirect positions. The terrain is rough. Remote sites require smart planning. Mein pushed for better transmission lines and energy aggregation infrastructure to handle the load. He wants responsible growth to drive the country’s clean energy shift while boosting the local economy.
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