Shillong: State-owned North Eastern Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) has said it is willing to restore power supply to power-starved Meghalaya but with conditions.
In a letter addressed to MECL Accounts Officer, NEEPCO Executive Director (Commercial,) N K Mao acknowledged the receipt of payment of some of the dues which MECL owes to NEEPCO.
“NEEPCO has received Rs 127.54 crore on March 19 from Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) and Power Finance Corporation (PFC) towards liquidation of the outstanding dues,” Mao said.
Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited (MePDCL) resorted to load shedding with effect from midnight of March 20 following power regulation imposed by NEEPCO due to non-payment of Rs 504.41 crore.
However, the NEEPCO official said the power can be restored to Meghalaya only if the rest of the outstanding dues owed by MeCL is cleared by April 30 in a single instalment.
“With regard to your request to withdraw regulation of power supply, NEEPCO is willing to consider the same subject to the following condition: the balance amount of outstanding dues is paid in a single instalment within April 30, 2021,” Mao said.
The second condition laid down to restore power supply is that an amount of Rs. 125 crore out of the Rs. Rs 198.44 crore paid by MeECL as the first installment in January this year “is agreed to be adjusted as 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,” he said.
With these conditions set by NEEPCO Meghalaya government would immediately have to find ways to bail MeCL out of its financial crisis and not allow the company to regulate the power supply.
