By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 26: Power Minister James Sangma has once again blamed the previous governments for the ills of the Power department, which has come under heavy attack from different quarters.
Speaking to media persons here, he said load-shedding is not new to Meghalaya and claimed the incumbent government has been able to address the issue in a very short time.
Admitting that the issue of power supply during the lean season has always been a challenge, Sangma claimed the government has been able to limit the load-shedding to 3-4 days.
He slammed the previous governments for ignoring the power dues of different companies accumulated over the years.
“We have inherited the legacy of misgovernance for years and we are helpless, but we are seriously working on this,” the Power Minister said.
MeECL has been reeling under a huge financial crisis. The monthly expenditure of the corporation is about Rs 120 crore while it generates an average revenue of about Rs. 75 crore a month.
The total monthly deficit works out to about Rs 45 crore.
According to Sangma, the MeECL spends about Rs 40 crore per month on clearing the dues of different power corporations and Rs 34-36 crore on pension and salaries of the employees.
“Why is MeECL in such a bad financial crisis? We are bearing the brunt of the PPA (power purchase agreement) that the then government signed in 2007,” he said.
The Power Minister said the government that time had failed to provide terminal benefits as promised during the unbundling of the MeECL. Terminal liabilities of Rs 712 crore has been cleared since 2010, he added.
The Meghalaya government has availed 50% of the first installment of the Atmanirbhar loan and the remaining 50% is subject to fulfilling certain criteria and paper works.
Hydel projects to be revived
The Power minister said the government has decided to make a fresh beginning on massive hydropower projects that were gathering dust for years. The government has thus decided to cancel the memorandum of agreement with the implementing agencies and go for a fresh start on “good” hydropower projects such as Umngot and Kynshi, he added.
“The government has invited expression of interest and we are looking for people who can take up these projects,” he said, adding that the government would also invite interested parties to take up solar projects in the state.
Earlier, the minister said the government is coming up with innovative interventions to ensure that customers who regularly pay their bills get uninterrupted power supply.
The minister also allayed fears that the price of smart meters in the state would come to around Rs 9,000. “The price of a smart meter would be Rs 3,070,” he said.
The government plans to create awareness about the concept of smart meters, he added.