SHILLONG, March 4: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Thursday hoped that the load-shedding in the state would end within the next 48 hours.
“The final discussion, agreement, steps and conditions required to be met will be decided by Friday. We are hopeful that within the next 36-48 hours, we will be able to deregulate the load-shedding and restore normal power supply in the state,” Sangma told reporters.
He said that the regulation of power to the state from different power generation companies came despite the MeECL currently not taking power from the National Thermal Power Corporation.
“This regulation of power supply has come as a surprise. Yes, there were outstanding dues of around Rs. 400 crore. But we have already cleared Rs 100 crore two months ago through a loan of more than Rs 1,300 crore from the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan scheme, which the MeECL has taken from the Centre,” he said.
The MeECL had taken Rs 1,345.72 crore as a loan to clear the liabilities of various generating and transmission companies.
The chief minister said that the next tranche of the loan is expected to be released soon and another Rs 100-200 crore will then be paid to the NTPC.
“The NTPC has managed to regulate the supply of power through different channels and systems. It is unfair to regulate power when we are taking power from them. We have already briefed the Union Power Minister about this matter,” he said.