Northeast states owe Rs.1,187 crore dues to NEEPCO

Seven northeastern states collectively owe Rs.1,187.58 crore as outstanding power dues to the central governemnt-owned North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO), an official said here on Wednesday.

Assam and Meghalaya jointly owe around Rs.1,000 crore as outstanding electricity dues to NEEPCO, a mini-ratna company under the union power ministry.

"Despite several reminders, the northeastern states are not clearing their outstanding dues," a senior NEEPCO official said wishing anonymity.

The official said: "NEEPCO is to get highest outstanding unpaid money of Rs.536.64 crore from Assam followed by Rs.429.4 crore from Meghalaya against sale of power."

According to the official, the other northeastern states having outstanding power dues with NEEPCO are Tripura (Rs.89.74 crore), Manipur (Rs.68.14 crore), Mizoram (Rs.37 crore), Arunachal Pradesh (Rs.26.16 crore) and Nagaland (Rs.5 lakh).

However, the surcharge of the state would be excluded from the outstanding power dues with NEEPCO.

"The power company is trying to mobilise about Rs.2,500 crore from the market during this financial year (2015-16), down by about Rs.600 crore from last fiscal (2014-15) when NEEPCO raised Rs.3,100 crore from the market," the official added.

The official said NEEPCO currently has an installed capacity of 1,130 MW, which is 47 percent of the total installed capacity of all the power projects in the northeastern region.

"Within two years, NEEPCO would commission five power projects in various northeastern states with an installed capacity of 927 MW."

NEEPCO has set up the Rs.9.5 billion (nearly $150 million) 101 MW capacity gas-based power plant in western Tripura's Monarchak.

NEEPCO was set up in 1976 to plan, design, construct, generate, operate and maintain power stations in the northeastern region, comprising eight states including Sikkim.

The eight states have a population of 45.58 million and the peak hour demand of electricity is around 2,200 MW.