PANAJI
Power Minister Sudin Dhavalikar on Tuesday strongly backed the Tamnar power project saying it will help the State in a big way in terms of infrastructure.
He also said Dharbandora to Mapusa portion of the Tamnar transmission line will be completed by the end of the year and the part from Karnataka to Dharbandora will be completed by 2025.
Defending the project, the Power Minister said that the infrastructure that is being set up in Goa will not go waste and can be utilised to source electricity from other areas.
“If we cannot bring transmission lines from Karnataka then we can bring it from Kolhapur. We can also use the infra for conventional energy. The infra can be used anywhere,” he said.
Replying to questions from the Opposition, Dhavlikar said, “we have taken the project because we are getting 1,200 mega watts of electricity”.
He further asserted that even if the Tamnar line is not completed, the high cost infrastructure created in Goa will be of use to the State.
“The sub-station at Dharbandora itself will be worth more than Rs 400 crore,” he disclosed.
Refuting Opposition concerns, the minister denied any deforestation as a result of the project claiming that trees will only be trimmed.
“There will be infrastructural development. If we are getting good infrastructure, then why do we need to scrap it? Why should we stop it (the project)? We have not started cutting the trees. We are not cutting the trees. We are only trimming them,” he said.
“The work has already started from Dharbandora to Cuncolim and to Xeldem in Mapusa,” the minister said.
The project, he added has also obtained wildlife clearance in 2019 and forest clearances in 2020, within Goa jurisdiction.
With an investment of around Rs 2,863 crore, it includes the construction of new sub-stations, transformer installations, and the conversion of both low-tension and high-tension transmission lines from overhead to underground.
