SHILLONG, July 27: The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) on Wednesday sought a clarification from Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, who also holds the Power portfolio, on the projected cost of Rs 232 crore in the supply and installation of 1.8 lakh smart meters in the state.
The HYC is surprised that while a smart meter costs only Rs 3,750, the installation, testing and commissioning of each entails an “inflated” expenditure of Rs 9,191.
The then Power Minister James PK Sangma had told the Assembly that the cost of each smart meter is about Rs 3,400. Later, Tynsong had said the costs of single phase and three-phase smart meters are Rs 3,750 and Rs 5,120 without GST respectively.
HYC general secretary Roy Kupar Synrem said, “RTI replies revealed that a meeting of the Board of Directors of MePDCL, held on February 12, 2021, approved the price offered by Satnam Global Infraprojects Limited of Rs 195,34,84,189 (without taxes) and Rs 232,96,39,343 (with GST) at a derived costing of Rs 9,444 per meter.”
He said the letter of authorisation (LOA) was issued on February 16 the same year and as per the contract, the break-up includes ex works price components of Rs 171,48,42,495 which comes to about Rs 9,526 per meter, GST component of Rs 30,86,71,649 (about Rs 1,715 per meter), installation price component of Rs 25,94,28,135 (about Rs 1,441 per meter) and GST component on installation of Rs 4,66,97,065 (about Rs 259 per meter).
Synrem said the total value of the contract comes to Rs 232,96,39,344. He said if one makes a simple calculation, the total cost incurred for supply and installation of one smart meter is Rs 12,941 where the cost of installation, testing and commissioning of each smart meter is Rs 9,191 (Rs 3,750 deducted from Rs 12,941), which is more than double the cost of procurement.
“It is unclear as to how the ministers concerned provided the answers when the calculation of the project cost shows the rates of supply and installation of each meter is Rs 12,941 with GST,” Synrem said.
He said in order to clear the doubts in the minds of the public, the HYC wants Tynsong to clarify why the project has been awarded at a cost of Rs 232 crore when each meter costs only Rs 3,750 as per his own statement.
The HYC demanded a justification on the expenditure of Rs 9,191 in the installation, testing and other services.
Synrem said the RTI replies suggested the cost of maintenance and SIM cards for the smart meters will have to be borne by the consumers at the end of a period of two years. He said this will create great difficulties for the consumers, particularly rural consumers.
As per the replies provided, the HYC found that East and West Garo Hills are two distribution circles where the aggregate technical and commercial loss (AT&C) is very high at 75.34% and 60.72 % respectively.
“We reiterate our demands as stated in our earlier communication to the state government that smart meters should be implemented in the above two distribution circles as a pilot project. And if the results are satisfactory, then it may be extended to other distribution circles where AT&C losses are comparatively high,” Synrem said.
“We also demand that the MePDCL should carry out awareness programmes on the pros and cons and the future liabilities of the consumers after the smart meters are installed,” he added.
