The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) Tuesday expressed shock today that the cost of smart meters that are to be installed by the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd (MeECL) in the state costs Rs 9,444 per unit in Meghalaya but Rs 3,000 elsewhere.
The HYC submitted a memorandum to Power Minister James Sangma urging him to keep in abeyance the project of supply and installation of smart meters under the Meghalaya Power Distribution Sector Improvement Project, funded by an Asian Development Bank loan.
HYC General Secretary Roy Kupar Synrem informed that the contract for the said project was allotted to a joint venture of Satnam Global Infra Projects Ltd, JPM Industries Ltd and Inhemeter Co Ltd at a total project cost of almost Rs 233 crore for 20.7 lakh smart meters.
“Don’t you think that above and over the already existing liabilities of MeECL to other parties, which often leads to erratic power supply in the state, the government is adding more debts to MeECL and that also to the tune of Rs 230 crore?” Synrem said.
He also said that this project will be implemented in Shillong and other areas in East Khasi Hills as well as West Khasi Hills, targeting around 2 lakh consumers in order to reduce the aggregate technical and commercial losses (AT&C).
But the HYC said that, as per their knowledge, the higher percentage of AT&C losses occurs in other districts, amounting to about 70 to 80 percent, thereby causing loss of revenue to the power utility.
“So, it is a fit case to implement this smart meter project in any of these districts, even on a pilot project basis, with higher percentage of AT&C losses than implementing it in the city of Shillong or in East/West Khasi Hills districts, which have AT&C losses of about 10-15 percent only,” Synrem added.
