SHILLONG, Feb 11: Power Minister James Sangma on Thursday said the process of clearing the outstanding debts for power purchase is being done in a phase-wise manner.
Stating that the state government has availed Rs 1,345 crore under the Atmanirbhar Bharat, he said, “We are thankful to the Chief Minister for having agreed to avail this loan. We are in the process of clearing all outstanding power purchase dues.”
The dues of over Rs 1,200 crore and the pending terminal benefits of Rs 840 crore, to be paid to retired employees, have affected the functioning of the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL). The terminal benefits were assured to the employees before MeSEB became MeECL.
The MeECL is also overburdened by loans and accumulating interest payments. It will have to pay the power dues to NEEPCO, Palatana and others. Pension corpus liabilities are also a cause of concern.
“The power sector in Meghalaya is undergoing many challenges and there is no doubt about it but today with the kind support and cooperation from the CM, I think we are in a much better position,” the Power Minister said.
He hoped that Meghalaya will in the future not just be able to resolve all issues and challenges related to the power sector but will also be able to set certain benchmarks for other states.
“We are looking at implementing the latest technology and we don’t want to take too much time for it. We feel if we are to proceed step by step, we will take a very long time to catch up with the rest of the world. Therefore, we feel the introduction of the latest technology is the need of the hour,” he said.
He cited that rework on the conductors, transmission lines, distribution, smart meters, and underground cabling are just the tip of the iceberg of the state government’s intervention to bring about a radical change in the power sector.
“These are the tip of the iceberg. We feel that with the intervention and introduction of new technology, we would be able to bring about a lot of radical changes in the power scenario and the energy sector of Meghalaya,” he added.
