Agartala, Dec 12 (TIWN): State government is planning to make Tripura a load-shedding free state and to set up a solar based power plant in state, Power Minister Manik Dey Friday said it in a seminar at Nazrul Kalashetra on National Energy Conservation Day.

The seminar on ‘Energy Conservation for Sustainable Development and Green Earth’ was organized with the initiative of Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL) sponsored by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Union Ministry of Power to mark the National Energy Conservation Day.

If all the plants generate power accordingly, then the state will be power surplus. Thereafter the state people will get relief from load-shedding problem, he said. Besides, Dey urged state people to preserve power instead of wastage.

After AMC areas, the state government further planning to install LED lights across the state phase by phase and to provide at least two LED lights to the needy families of state to prevent the wastage of power, Dey said.

“At present the power or transmission loss in the state is 33.60 percent on average. To drop the transmission loss at zero, theft of power should be stopped; repair of electric lines and improvement in electricity infrastructure must be done”, Manik said. To complete these works, sufficient funds are required and the state government is trying to sanction funds from World Bank, he said.

Referring the power tariff hike, Dey further stated that a section of people and some political parties are spreading tangle in the state. At such, the substantial rise in the natural gas price, due increase of power purchase cost from outside Central Sector Project and due to hike in operational and maintenance costs are the main reasons behind the hike of power tariff, Dey added. The state government has committed to provide subsidy of Rs. 40 crore to the specific consumers at different rates, Dey said. 

Minister for Social Welfare and Social Education- Bijita Nath, Mayor of Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC)- Dr. Prafullajit Sinha, Commissioner of AMC- Abhishek Chandra, Sabhadipati of West Tripura District Zilla Parishad- Dilip Das, Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of TSECL- SK Ray and many others attended the seminar on ‘Energy Conservation for Sustainable Development and Green Earth’.