NTPC withdraws load shedding regulation in Meghalaya: Minister

Meghalaya Power Minister James P K Sangma on Wednesday said the NTPC has withdrawn "load shedding regulation" from all areas of the state.

Invoking a provision of the 2007 pact between the NTPC and the then Congress-led government in Meghalaya, the PSU started regulating power supply since March 4 this year demanding Rs 400 crore outstanding dues from the state government.

"After my official visit to New Delhi on March 3rd 2021 to meet with Union Power Minister, I'm delighted to inform that the @ntpclimited, has withdrawn the load shedding regulation," the state minister tweeted.

He expressed his gratitude to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and Union Power Minister R K Singh for addressing the matter.

The chief minister had told the Assembly on Tuesday that the state was a victim of power regulation by the NTPC due to an agreement with the Congress-led government in 2007 which allowed the power utility to "arm twist" the state government and stop it from buying power from other generation companies.

According to officials of the Meghalaya Electric Corporation Ltd, an amount of Rs 100 crore was paid to NTPC early this year through a loan from the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan scheme, which the MeECL has taken from the Centre.

The state government has availed a Rs 1,345 crore loan under #AatmanirbharBharat from the Centre to liquidate all outstanding dues against the purchase of power from various power-generating institutions.

"The loan under the special package given by the Prime Minister will be disbursed to all gencos and transcos which include NEEPCO, OTPC, NHPC and PGCIL. We expect that we will be able to end all our liabilities to the generating companies and transmission companies soon," the power minister had said.