Prime Minister Narendra Modi being felicitated by Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu.
Credit: PTI
Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated and laid foundation stones for projects worth Rs 5,100 crore in Arunachal Pradesh, including two hydroelectric projects located close to the border with China.
The move comes months after Beijing began work on the world’s largest hydropower project on the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet, which becomes the Siang in Arunachal Pradesh and the Brahmaputra further downstream in Assam.
The two hydro projects—Heo (240 MW) and Tato (186 MW) on the Siyom river in Shi Yomi district—aim to harness the frontier state’s hydroelectric potential. Together, they have been allocated Rs 3,689 crore. “Our Northeastern region plays a significant role in the country’s journey towards becoming a developed nation by 2047. We have set a target of generating 500 GW of electricity from non-conventional sources like solar, wind, and hydropower. These projects will strengthen Arunachal’s power generation capacity, provide jobs to local youth, and ensure low-cost electricity for development,” Modi said.
The foundation stone was laid amid protests by local communities opposing the construction of mega dams for hydropower. Recently, the Siang valley districts saw widespread demonstrations against a proposed project on the Siang river. The Centre has argued that the Siang multipurpose project would mitigate the possible adverse impact of the Chinese dam upstream. Modi, however, did not directly address the protests in his speech.
Despite years of opposition, the government has signed MoUs with central PSUs to implement 13 hydropower projects in Arunachal Pradesh.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for a state-of-the-art Convention Centre at Tawang, a district bordering China. Situated at an altitude of over 9,820 feet, the facility will host national and international conferences, cultural festivals, and exhibitions. With a capacity of more than 1,500 delegates, the centre is envisioned as a landmark boosting tourism and cultural exchange in the region.
“Difficult projects”
Accusing the Congress of neglecting the Northeast, Modi said, “One inherent habit of Congress is that they never take up development work which is difficult to be done; they abandon it. This habit of Congress has caused significant harm to Arunachal Pradesh and the entire Northeast. In the hilly and forested areas, where development work was challenging, Congress would declare the regions backward and simply forget them.”
He added that areas once dismissed as “backward” by the Congress have been prioritised under the NDA government since 2014. “The villages at the border, which Congress called the last villages, we have recognised as the first villages of the nation. The results are visible today—new heights of development are being seen in the border villages,” he said.
Later in the day, Modi visited neighbouring Tripura, where he inaugurated the redeveloped Tripureswari temple in Gomati district. The shrine is one of the country’s ancient Shakti Peethas.