Agartala: Tripura State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) is the one and only centre in the North East to have received the ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Certificate, providing better protection against cybercriminal attacks.
Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath informed this today while addressing the 22nd Foundation Day of Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL) at Agartala.
The Minister said that this certification is mandatory for all SLDCs in the country as per the rules of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), which aims to protect critical computerized systems from increasing cyber threats and keep the national power grid safe.
“In this context, a System Surveillance Audit was conducted by STQC at the Tripura State Load Dispatch Centre. After rectification of non-conformities related to Biometric Access Control, Intelligent Threat Dissemination, Smoke Detection (VESDA) System, User Identity Control, Physical Security, etc., the Ministry of IT, Government of India has awarded the ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Certificate,” he said.
The Minister informed that although TSECL was formed in 2004, the power sector in Tripura has a history of 89 years, from 1937 to 2026.
“The first electricity supply ran on a diesel engine during the princely regime. In 1949, Tripura was merged with India, and in 2005 the journey of TSECL started. Many changes have been made. Power consumers were 3.9 lakh when TSECL started in 2005, and now it is 1.57 lakh. If we observe, there were three 132 kV substations, and after our government came to power, nine substations were set up. Initially, there were 33 numbers of 33 kV substations. From 2005 to 2017, 11 numbers of 33 kV substations were set up, and in the last seven years, 31 numbers of 33 kV substations have been established. There were 89 km of 132 kV lines from 2005 to 2017, and in the last seven years, 501 km have been added,” the Minister said.
The Power Minister said that the key to development is power.
“That is why we are thinking anew for power and bringing reforms. Earlier, there was declared load shedding; now it is managed through an online system. Earlier, everything was offline; now it is online. There was no system of smart meters or transparent billing. Now consumers can sit at home and pay their bills. We have also opened a 24×7 call centre, which was not there earlier. Fault rectification services are available, and we have started digital services. There have been massive changes in TSECL. Our department has taken many steps,” he said.
He also said that in 2005, the power demand of Tripura was 220 MW, in 2017–18 it was 306 MW, and in 2025–26 it is 378 MW and in 2031, it will be 650 MW.
“Where will we find power? Gas projects are near completion. However, we are using new technology in Rukhia, but our main target is solar power. We must think and prepare from today. Work on a 120 MW combined cycle plant in Rukhia has started. The Gomti Hydro Electric Plant, which was destroyed by floods, will be restored. We are setting up an 800 MW pump storage project, among other initiatives. We have taken a plan to lay underground cables across the entire Agartala Municipal Corporation area, for which the DPR work has been completed. Work orders for live line maintenance techniques have been issued, and we have approved drone technology to detect faults. We have also covered many hospitals and educational institutions with solar power,” the Minister said.
Secretary Abhishek Singh, Chairman TERC Hemant Verma, MD TSECL Biswajit Basu, and others were present at the event.
