SHILLLONG: The whopping Rs 473 crore power dues have prompted the State Government to resort to more load shedding in the State this year compared to last year, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma told the Assembly on Tuesday.
Replying to a call attention motion moved by Clifford Marak, the Chief Minister, on behalf of Power Minister Clement Marak, who was not present in the House, said that that the total pending power dues as on February 28 this year was Rs 473.85 crore and the dues against power purchase from NEEPCO was the highest, at Rs 363.64 crore. The approximate monthly power bill against power purchase is about Rs 34.73 crore.
Earlier, moving the motion, Clement Marak said that load shedding had brought undue hardships to the people of Meghalaya, especially to the student community.
The Chief Minister said the state wais purchasing power from 11 power companies.
According to the Chief Minister, the reasons for accumulation of outstanding were various. One of the reasons is the huge supplementary bills raised by the Central Power Sector Units (CPSUs), consequent upon the final tariff order issued by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) in accordance with the CERC Tariff Regulations 2009-14, with retrospective effect.
Other factors were inadequate revenue realization and aggregate technical and commercial losses.
However, to be able to liquidate the huge outstanding dues which had accumulated over the years, MeECL has taken steps to avail of the Financial Restructuring Plan (FRP) launched by the Centre. The scheme for financial restructuring of State-owned distribution companies was notified by Ministry of Power on October 5, 2012. The scheme is available to all participating distribution companies having accumulated losses and facing difficulty in financial operating losses. The deadline for submission of the FRP was extended till July 31 2013.
The total short term liabilities of MeECL eligible for FRP stood at Rs 441 crore as on March 31,2012. Out of this, while the power purchase liability is Rs 171 crore, short term loans from banks is Rs 270 crore. While the state cabinet on September 27, 2013 in principle approved the FRP whereby the Centre will take over at least 25% of the liabilities from MeECL, the last date for submission was on July 31 2013.
The Chief Minister said that he on February 20 this year he had pursued with the Centre for extending the date for submission of FRP and the approval of extension was awaited. If FRP is approved by the Ministry of Power, then the Government of India will provide capital reimbursement support to the State Government, to the extent of 25% of the liabilities taken over by it, the Chief Minister said.
In the event that the Ministry of Power did not grant extension of time, then Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited (MePDCL) planned to restructure the liabilities with the support of the financial institutions and Government of Meghalaya, the Chief Minister said.
Sangma said that there was a need to increase the efficiency of MeECL in respect of distribution and transmission to bring down distribution losses, expedite the project implementation to improve state’s own generation, fast track the projects being implemented under joint ventures to avail 12% free and cheaper power.