Over 26.4 trillion VND (1.3 billion USD) have been approved for a resident displacement and resettlement project sparked by the construction of the Son La hydropower plant, the biggest of its kind in Vietnam.

The money includes more than 17.4 trillion VND (829.4 million USD) sourced from the State budget and 9 trillion VND (428.6 million USD) from Vietnam Electricity.

It is allocated to three neighbouring northwestern provinces, namely Son La, Dien Bien and Lai Chau, to move and resettle 20,340 households (92,301 people).

Located in Son La’s Muong La district, the Son La power plant was inaugurated on December 23, 2012, three years ahead of schedule. It has an installed capacity of 2,400MW with six 400MW turbines.-VNA