Agartala, June 20 (IANS) India's power ministry has sought a financial aid of $2.5 billion or over Rs.113 billion from the World Bank for an ambitious project of transmission and distribution of electricity among the eight northeastern states, an official release said here Monday.

The release, issued by the North Eastern Council (NEC), said: "The union power ministry has recently submitted the Rs.11,348.5 crore proposal to the World Bank."

"The northeastern states, mainly Arunachal Pradesh, have the potentiality to generate 63,257 MW hydro electricity. The biggest hydro-electric plant, Lower Subansiri, in Arunachal Pradesh with a capacity of 2,000 MW is scheduled to be completed between 2013-2015."

The two-day 60th NEC meeting held June 16-17 in New Delhi discussed the power scenario, under-construction projects and future electricity generation plan in the northeastern region.

The meeting, chaired by NEC chairman and union Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) B.K. Handique, was attended by all the eight chief ministers from the region.

"The first unit of gas-based Palatana power project in southern Tripura is scheduled to be completed in November 2011 and the second by March 2012."

The state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is commissioning its first ever 726 MW capacity commercial power project at a cost of Rs.9,000 crore at Palatana, 60 km south of Tripura capital Agartala.

The release said that 433 km of road, at an estimated cost of Rs.1,353 crore, in six states of the northeastern region would be upgraded with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan.

The NEC, constituted in 1971, is a regional planning and execution agency for overall development of the northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.