(HT)
The Arunachal Pradesh government on Tuesday announced the formation of a company to implement five major hydropower projects, including three new ones, in the north-eastern state’s Shi-Yomi district, which borders China.
The formation of M/s NEEPCO Arunachal Hydro Power Corporation Limited, a joint venture with the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) to implement the Tato I, Heo, Tato II, Naying, and Hirong projects — Tato I and Heo were previously cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs and construction on them is to begin shortly — was announced during a historic sitting of the state’s cabinet at Kibithu, a remote village just 8 km south of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China.
Sending a strong signal of sovereignty and resolve from the frontier the cabinet cleared a series of sweeping decisions related to hydropower, governance, education, and security.
The high-altitude Cabinet session, chaired by Chief Minister Pema Khandu, was held under the Cabinet Aapke Dwar initiative, aimed at taking governance to the remotest parts of the state.
The location and the meeting carried symbolic heft, coming just days after China’s Civil Aviation Ministry released a new set of “standardised” names for places in Arunachal Pradesh in a renewed bid to assert territorial claims. India has firmly rejected the move. “Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India,” the external affairs ministry said in a statement.
China refers to the state as “Zangnan” and has repeatedly issued renaming lists — the latest being the fifth in recent years — targeting strategic regions along the Line of Actual Control, including Kibithu and nearby Walong, which witnessed fierce resistance by Indian forces during the 1962 war.
Echoing that historic resistance, Chief Minister Khandu later on the day also paid homage to the Indian Army’s 6 Kumaon Regiment, which fought heroically in the Battle of Walong, one of the bloodiest encounters during the Sino-Indian conflict. “I bow my head in reverence to the bravehearts of 6 Kumaon, who stood their ground during the Battle of Walong in 1962. Against all odds, they fought with unmatched grit, courage, and love for the motherland,” Khandu wrote in a social media post.
He also presented a formal citation to 6 Kumaon during the Cabinet meeting at Kibithu, lauding their continued dedication to guarding the nation’s eastern frontier.
“Their presence is a silent assurance that we sleep in peace because they stand guard in silence. Jai Hind to the eternal warriors of 6 Kumaon,” Khandu added.
In a bid to further accelerate hydropower expansion, the Cabinet restored the 144 MW Gongri Hydropower Project to M/s Dirang Energy Pvt Ltd under a special policy framework — the first revival under the Restoration of Terminated Large Hydropower Projects Policy, 2025. A basin-wise approach for hydro development was also approved, along with 96 new technical and non-technical posts to support sectoral capacity.
The decisions, part of Arunachal’s ambitious “Decade of Hydropower” vision, were accompanied by critical governance updates — including a revamped Teachers’ Transfer and Posting Policy 2025, new recruitment rules for educators, and approval for 32 teaching and non-teaching positions at Arunachal Pradesh University, Pasighat.
The Cabinet also sanctioned 200 new voluntary Home Guard posts under the 2023 Rules and approved the restructuring of the Arunachal Pradesh Civil Services, raising secretary-level positions from three to eight.
