Tripura nears 24x7 power supply, climbs to India’s top 4 in electricity distribution

Tripura Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath on Tuesday announced that the state now supplies 23 hours and 49 minutes of electricity per day on average, placing Tripura in the fourth position nationally in power distribution performance. 

Citing data from the National Feeder Monitoring System (NFMS) of the Government of India, he said rural areas currently receive 23 hours and 43 minutes of power, while urban areas get 23 hours and 59 minutes of uninterrupted supply.

Nath said the improvement marks a significant leap from the pre-2018 period, when the state received only about 21 hours of electricity daily. He attributed the progress to the continuous efforts of the Power Department over the last seven and a half years to ensure reliable, quality power for consumers.

The minister was speaking after attending the bhoomi pujan of the Rukhiya 120 MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Project in Sepahijala district. He explained that the long-running gas-based thermal power plant at Rukhia was developed in six phases between 1990 and 2006 and currently houses nine Open Cycle Gas Turbine Generator Units. The first six units, each of 8 MW, have already been declared abandoned after completing their operational lifespan, with production halting between 2002 and 2013. The remaining units, each of 21 MW, together make up the plant’s 63 MW installed capacity, though only 19 MW is being generated at present due to limited gas availability.

Nath said the upcoming project, supported by the Asian Development Bank, will convert the existing open cycle setup into a 120 MW combined cycle system. Highlighting the efficiency gains, he said open cycle plants use only a portion of the available energy, achieving 35–45 percent efficiency, whereas a combined cycle system uses waste heat to power a steam turbine, pushing efficiency to nearly 60 percent. The project is expected to cost ₹1,320 crore and be completed within three years.

He also outlined ongoing efforts to curb power theft and strengthen rural electrification. A total of 13,435 km of Aerial Bunched (AB) Cable has been installed across rural areas—up from just 198 km earlier—to prevent power theft through hook lines. Under the PM-JANMAN scheme, 11,692 PVTG (Reang) households have been electrified, while 2,285 tribal families have been provided electricity connections under the DA-JGUA project. Another 5,392 families will be covered soon.

Nath further disclosed that NHPC is exploring the feasibility of setting up an 800 MW pumped storage project at Chawmanu in Dhalai district. If approved, it would be the first such project in the Northeast and is expected to significantly aid Tripura’s economic growth.