SHILLONG: The difference between the figures given by the State Government and MeECL on the unit cost of power purchased from different generating stations has come under scrutiny in Assembly on Friday.
Nongthymmai legislator Jemino Mawthoh (UDP) raised the issue during the Question Hour.
As per the official figures provided by the distribution unit of the MeECL which are available with him, Mawthoh said that during the financial year of 2013-2014, the unit cost of power from different power generations are NEEPCO (Rs 2.24), NHPC (Rs 2.50) and NTPC (Rs 3.80).
In his reply, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma informed that the unit cost of power from the different power generating stations during 2013-2014 are NEEPCO (Rs 6.37), NHPC (Rs 2.75) NTPC (Rs 3,90) and ONGC Tripura Power Corporation (Rs 2.53).
While questioning the figures given by the Chief Minister, Mawthoh said that there is a confusion since which of the figures should be taken as true.
He said that it is surprising to see that there is a huge difference especially on the unit cost of power purchased from NEEPCO as quoted by MeECL with Rs 2.24 while Chief Minister mentioned that the rate per unit is Rs 6.37.
Justifying his reply, Chief Minister said that the rate which he has given is the actual figure on the unit cost of power purchased.
Sangma further said that the amount of pending dues with the various power generations are NEEPCO (Rs 354.49 crore), NHPC (Rs 21.44), NTPC (Rs 10.04) and ONCG Tripura Power Corporation (Rs 0.01 crore).
He also informed that the purchase of power from various power generating corporations is being done as per the State entitlement and also as per the rate fixed by the Meghalaya State Electricity Regulatory Commission (MSERC).
While replying to a supplementary question of Mawthoh on the reason for the delay in the payment of the outstanding dues by the MeECL, Chief Minister said that there are various factors which led to the delay in payment of the outstanding dues which include non-realization of the revenues, gap in the revenue generation and also the commercial and technical losses which were incurred.
To a question by Mawthoh on the steps taken by the Government to reduce these losses, he said that there are a number of measures which are required to be taken like the improvement of the overall efficiency of the corporation and the need to adopt new technology for timely realization of the dues.
