The Hynñiewtrep Youths Council (HYC) has asked Power Minister and Deputy CM Prestone Tynsong to explain how the cost of each smart meter to be installed by a private company under contract to the state government has been arrived at.
The HYC was reacting to Tynsong’s recent statement that the pressure group had gotten its maths wrong as to the computation of the smart meters cost.
“If we go by what the Deputy Chief Minister is saying, then the total cost of the project should be only Rs 119 crore (Rs 5889 x 19,7487 single-phase meters and Rs 11238 x 2513 three-phase smart meter). Then on what basis the project is allotted at a whopping cost of Rs 232 crore?” the HYC asked Tynsong today.
The HYC also wanted to know what the other components of the contract are which added Rs 113 crore to the project cost.
On Saturday, Tynsong said that the HYC had incorrectly calculated the cost of each smart meter as it failed to take into consideration the different types of meters.
The basic price of the single-phase smart meter is Rs 3,750, Tynsong said, and taking into account all the other components – the meter box, the cost-of-service cable fitting, installation, the modules and communication models, among others – the total price is Rs 5,889. For a three-phase meter the total cost comes to Rs 11,238 each.
The HYC also stated that they had gone through the detailed project report (DPR) along with all the documents of the project before arriving at their statement.
“Based on these documents, which we got through RTI, we made the statements above and request you (Tynsong) for a clarification,” the HYC said.