GUWAHATI, Dec 31 - All the villages of the State will be electrified by March 2017, Minister of State for Power Pallab Lochan Das said today.
The State Government has submitted a proposal to the Centre for total electrification and the project would be executed in a phased manner and it would cover all revenue and forest villages.
Announcing this at a press conference, Das said that the process of electrification of the uncovered villages would start with electrification of 40 villages in 17 districts tomorrow.
�We intend to cover all the villages by March 2017 and ensure that the entire State is electrified by then. There are 1,076 villages that are yet to be electrified, of which 508 are on grid and the rest are off-grid villages,� he said.
Stating that some villages are still partially electrified, Das said 10,000 villages were being targeted for �intensive electrification� by December 2017.
�The off-grid villages will be connected by solar panels and stand-alone connections will be installed for those,� he said.
Das revealed that while off-peak hour demand in the State was 1,100-1,200 MW, peak hour demand was 1,500 MW, with Guwahati accounting for 46 per cent of the total consumption.
�The current power generation in the State is 228 MW, and we have to buy the deficit from outside to meet the demand. We are initiating new measures for better power distribution and reduce transmission and distribution losses by adopting best technical practices,� he said.
