The public of Meghalaya who pay their power bills regularly do not deserve the power cuts. The load shedding in Meghalaya today is reminiscent of those dark days when Manipur used to have frequent power shut-downs and people relied heavily on inverters imported from China via Myanmar. Ten years ago, Manipur brought in drastic power reforms where pre-paid meters were fitted to houses and after that the revenue generation was mended. Power leakage was the main cause for the power sector in Manipur to go into the red. The power reforms were needed and were pushed through and now power cuts in Manipur are a thing of the past.
In Meghalaya, the industrial sector, mainly the power guzzling cement companies and the iron and steel units have huge outstanding power bills which they are yet to pay. The Meghalaya Government is pussy-footing and not recovering these outstanding dues for reasons best known to it. When smart meters were supposed to be fitted to prevent power leakage what happened instead was a scam. First, Chinese made smart meters were fitted even when the Union Power Ministry had given clear instructions to steer clear of them. Second, the Company fitting those meters was paid in excess of the rates due as pointed out by the C&AG in its preliminary report.
Surprisingly, during the entire election campaign period there were no power cuts. But barely a week after the results were declared the power cuts have disrupted lives yet again. The latest C&AG report points to capital erosion of state run public sector enterprises. Topping that list is the Meghalaya Power Distribution Company Ltd (MePDCL) which is the problem vertical of the MeECL as it is in transmission and distribution that the leakage happens. The latest finalised accounts of the MePDCL 2020-21 shows a total paid up capital of Rs 858-39 crores. The net loss suffered by the MePDCL thus far is Rs 425.28 crore. The accumulated loss of this single vertical is Rs 2838.34 and its net worth as of today is a negative balance of Rs 1979.95 crore. The amount pumped in by the State Government – in short its equity – is Rs 859.27. Over and above this equity the State Government has also infused more capital by way of loans to the tune of Rs 174.45 crore. As of today, even if the State were to decide to privatise its power corporation, with a negative balance of nearly Rs 2000 crore there would be few takers. But neither does the State have any rejuvenation plans. The Power Corporation is heavily reliant on the national grids for power and is defraying them from the dues collected from its consumers. When it comes to staff salaries and establishment costs the Power Corporation relies heavily on government bail-outs. How long can this carry on?