AGARTALA, March 13 (TIWN): To create infrastructure in the power sector in Tripura a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the World Bank, officials of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) led by PGCIL chairman-cum-managing director R.N. Nayak and officials of Tripura State Electricity Corporation Ltd (TSECL) in presence of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar at civil secretariat, here today.The total sanctioned cost of the project for Tripura is Rs. 1372.20 crore funded by World Bank, Government of India and Government of Tripura, state government officials said. Under this project, power transmission and distribution and transmission sub-stations would be modernized.“The World Bank aided infrastructure development project in the power sector would begin in the forthcoming fiscal year (2015-16),” an official added. The PGCIL and World Bank officials earlier held talks and studied the power transmission scenario in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura for implementation of the ‘North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project’.

The official said: “The World Bank would provide a major portion of the Rs.8,150 crore ambitious project as loan. Under this project, power transmission lines, transmission sub-stations and related works would be done in a phased manner.” The PGCIL, a “Navaratna” power transmission company, would also provide technical and managerial support for inter-state transmission and distribution systems.

The official said the union government has recently decided to implement a new ‘Smart Grid Projects (SGP)’ in 14 cities across the country on pilot-basis at a cost of Rs.200 crore. The 14 cities include Agartala, the only city in the northeastern region, where the SGP will be executed.

The SGP will be a digital technology that allows for two-way communication between the utility and its customers, as well as monitoring of the transmission lines for efficient use of electricity. The official said the Tripura State Electricity Corporation has already undertaken preliminary work to lay underground power transmission lines in the capital city and its outskirts.

It is to be mentioned that World Bank is funded by two top donor nations USA and UK, next secondmost top donor nations Japan, Germany alongwith  45 small donor nations . World Bank's major funding over 70% comes from USA and UK. In other words, Manik Sarkar's communist govt and party have qualms about establishing relations with so called 'captalist' or 'bougeoas'  nations like USA and UK, badmouthing against America in every CPIM rally, but as a height of communist hypocrisy, CPIM  have no reservations when comes to holding begging bowl for funds from USA for many ongoing projects in Tripura.