Meghalaya is now caught in a bind as NEEPCO has set a condition stating that it will restore electricity supply to the State only if Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) cleared the balance amount of outstanding dues in single installment within April 30.
In a letter to the MeECL on March 19, NEEPCO Executive Director N K Mao also said that an amount of Rs 125 crore of the Rs 198.44 crore paid by MeECL as the first installment in January this year should be adjusted against late payment surcharge.
“NEEPCO is however, agreeable to mutually accepted terms in line with the instructions issued by the Ministry of Power, Government of India on March 18, 2021,” Mao said in the letter.
It may be noted that MeECL has paid Rs 127.54 crore to NEEPCO on March 19 from the loans provided by Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) and Power Finance Corporation (PFC) towards liquidation of the outstanding dues.
Meghalaya is reeling under another round of load shedding that started from March 20. The load shedding was necessitated in view of the power regulation imposed by NEEPCO. Shillong city is experiencing eleven hours of load shedding every day. This includes power cut from midnight to 6 am, 9 am to 12 noon and 2 pm to 4 pm. The load shedding hours for various regions of the State including industrial areas have also been announced.
It may be noted that NEEPCO has on March 16 asked the North Eastern Regional Load Despatch Centre to snap electricity supply to Meghalaya for six months unless the State government clears the pending dues amounting to Rs 504.41 crore.
According to NEEPCO, despite constant persuasion at various levels, the MeECL has failed to clear the outstanding power dues against purchase of power from various power stations of NEEPCO.
The dues of MeECL to NEEPCO continue to escalate and the outstanding have piled up to Rs 156.70 crore as on March 15 plus late payment surcharge (LPS) of Rs 347.71 crore. The total dues as on March 15 stand at Rs 504.41 crore.
NEEPCO has today served a notice to MeECL informing that power supply to Meghalaya would be stopped from midnight of March 20 for six months unless MeECL pays the outstanding dues of more than 45 days whichever is earlier.
“As the outstanding payment and late payment surcharges are more than seven months old, therefore Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited may be debarred from procuring power from a power exchange or grant of short term open access till such bill is paid,” NEEPCO said in the letter to the North Eastern Regional Load Despatch Centre.
Meghalaya gets 147.53 Mega Watt (MW) of electricity from eight power stations of NEEPCO.
It may be mentioned that the Union Power Ministry has recently asked the Meghalaya government to clear the power bills of NEEPCO.
Union Power Secretary Tanmay Kumar in a letter to Meghalaya Power Secretary Pravin Bakshi on March 12 had also expressed concern over the failure by MeECL to clear the outstanding dues to NEEPCO.
The Union Power Secretary had also said that the Central government has launched the Liquidity Infusion Scheme to enable power distribution companies to clear their outstanding dues to central power sector undertakings and that a loan of Rs 1345.72 crore has been sanctioned to Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited by the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) and Power Finance Corporation (PFC) under this scheme.
“It has been informed to this Ministry that so far Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited has availed of Rs 386.86 crore from REC and PFC and this amount was disbursed to the central power sector undertakings in January 2021 as the first installment of the first tranche of the loan. Thereafter, Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited has not made any further request to REC and PFC for disbursement of the balance sanctioned amount,” the Union Power Secretary had said.
“Therefore, it is a matter of concern that Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited is unable to avail of this opportunity extended by the Government of India to clear their dues,” he added.
The Union Power Secretary had also asked the Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited to request REC and PFC to disburse the remaining installments to NEEPCO within March 15 “failing which sanction of the loan will be liable to be withdrawn”.
