Meghalaya's power dues touch Rs 473.85 crore

Meghalaya has dues of over Rs 470 crore to be paid to 11 public and private power companies, including an outstanding of over Rs 363 crore due to the NEEPCO alone, compounding the power-crisis in the state, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma told the assembly today.
"The total outstanding dues against power purchase from 11 power companies have touched Rs 473.85 crore as on February 28 last," Sangma said while replying to a call attention motion moved by Garo National Council legislator Clifford R Marak.
The approximate monthly power bill against power purchase from these companies is about Rs 34.73 crore, he said, of which the state government has cleared payments of only Rs 159.41 crore till March 5.

According to the Chief Minister, the accumulation of the outstanding dues was because of huge supplementary bills raised by the central power sector units, consequent upon the final tariff order issued by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission in accordance with their tariff regulation from 2009 - 2014 with retrospective effect.
He also said the state suffered a transmission loss of about 30 MW for which the government has to bear losses during power transfers.
North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd (NEEPCO) has the highest outstanding due against power purchase from Meghalaya which has nearly touched Rs 364 crore, followed by Power Grid Corporation of India Limited whose due is Rs 28.39 crore followed by NTPC at Rs 24.65 crore and National Hydro Power Corporation at Rs 21.23 crore, the Chief Minister said.

There were other smaller companies too whose payments were outstanding, he said.

The state government is yet to pay Assam Electricity Board Rs 14.6 crore for wheeling charges during which the transfer of power to the state was made through their grid.
The Chief Minister also informed that the Meghalaya Electricity Corporation Limited has short term liabilities worth over Rs 440 crore which was eligible for reimbursement under Financial Restructuring Plan of the Government of India whose last date of submission was July 31 last year.
Since the submission was not made on time, Sangma said the state government has pursued with the Union Power Minister to extend the deadline till June this year so as to enable the state to avail reimbursement of at least 25 per cent of the total liabilities.

The power scenario has been a cause of concern during the last few years. The state has been facing a power deficit to the extent of 20-30 per cent of the demand, Governor K K Paul told the Assembly during his address last week.