Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday invited companies to set up their business ventures in the state.

Sonowal made the invitation as Assam has a power surplus of 350 MW to cater to their electricity need.

The invitation was made as a part of a slew of measures the Assam government is taking to reverse the sluggish growth of the COVID hit state’s economy,

CM Sarbananda Sonowal made the invitation in a meeting that he chaired to assess the impact of COVID-19 on Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL), Assam Power Generation Corporation Limited (APGCL) and Assam Electricity Grid Corporation Limited (AEGCL).

"Though the state has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, the unrelenting endeavour of the government’s power companies has yielded into a power surplus of 350 MW," Sonowal said.

The chief minister, therefore, invited companies to invest in Assam and set up their units to explore the business-friendly ambience including the availability of energy.

It may be noted that Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has also constituted an economic advisory committee for recommending suggestions for improving the health of the economy.

The CM also hailed the role of every person of the power department and the power companies in maintaining their high standard of professionalism and providing uninterrupted supply.

"When the apocalypse in the form of COVID 19 has hit the state hard with its cascading effect on the life and livelihood of the people, any lapse on the part of power department would have relegated the State government’s astute management of the viral infection," he said.

He, therefore, asked the functionaries of the department to sustain their good performance in the coming days and lift the morale of all staff working at far-flung areas of the state.

CM Sarbananda Sonowal took stock of the progress of ongoing power projects like 120 MW Lower Kopili Hydro Electric Project, 70 MW Amguri Solar Power Project, 20 MW Namrup Solar Power Project, 100 MW Namrup Replacement Power Project.

He also took stock of the issues palpably coming in the way in expeditious completion of the projects and asked the concerned functionaries to redress the issues.

He also asked APGCL to start work on the 24 MW Borpani Middle-II SHEP, 22.5 MW Borpani Middle-I and 100 MW Bilasipara Solar Power Project at the earliest.

Taking stock of the AEGCL, Sonowal asked the company to strengthen its fundamentals to augment the load handling capacity.

He also reviewed the ongoing projects of AEGCL which primarily consist of setting up of new substations and augmenting the existing sub-stations along with a network of the grid.

Sarbananda Sonowal also asked APDCL to ensure energy security and cater to the retail electricity demand of around 58.78 lakh consumers of Assam.