TMC slams govt over MeECL debt burden

SHILLONG, March 30: The opposition TMC on Thursday criticised the government for deepening the financial problems of the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) and making the state return to the days of power cuts.
The party also slammed the “short-sighted” government for ignoring words of caution and taking a loan to reform the power sector.
“The state government took that loan to help the power generation companies but not rescue the MeECL from the mess it was stuck in. The short-term plan of the state government ended with increasing the MeECL’s burden and making the days of power cuts return,” TMC vice-president George B. Lyngdoh said.
“We are lucky that the rains came in a bit early this year and shortened the power cuts,” he added.
“We had cautioned that the loan to pay the money owed by MeECL to the power generation companies through the REC would not solve the problems of generation and supply,” he said.
The government at that time viewed the opposition as an obstacle but the TMC’s intent was to look at the long-term impact when the money could have been used to increase the power generation capacity and revenue collection and ensure long-term gains, Lyngdoh said.
“Now, the MeECL has the additional burden to repay the principal amount and interest totalling more than Rs 1,200 crore while the generation and supply issues remain (unresolved),” he said.
The weight of the financial burden is increasing for the MeECL because additional power is drawn from the power generation companies and the national grid during winters, Lyngdoh pointed out, complaining that it was a messy situation.