Rs 28-32 Cr spent in buying power per month
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, March 19 2018: Managing Director in-charge of Manipur State Power Distribution Company Limited (MSPDCL), M Priyokumar has informed that the State spends around Rs 28-32 crore per month in buying electricity from various power plants, but the State Government is able to collect only about Rs 19-20 crore from the consumers through prepaid meter system.

Speaking to media persons as a part of the continuous press conference organised by DIPR at Moirangkhom today, M Priyokumar said that the State now has 4.4 lakh power consumers, out of which 3.38 lakhs are prepaid users.

He also informed that out of the 3.38 lakhs prepaid users, 3.21 lakhs have activated their prepaid meters till date.

From April, last year, till the current month, 29, 273 consumers have activated their prepaid meter systems, he added.

Pointing out that around 1.02 lakh consumers are yet to get prepaid meter systems, the Managing Director informed that the company has sent a proposal to the Ministry of Power for purchasing the necessary prepaid meters for the consumers who are yet to have prepaid connection or those who are getting new connection.

The prepaid meter units will be purchased as soon as the proposal is approved by the Ministry, he added.

Replying to a query, the Managing Director said that during peak hours, the power consumption of the State ranges from 190 to 200 Megawatts.

The State buys around 40 to 50 million units from outside per month and only 30 percent of the total power/electricity generated from the Loktak Hydro Electric Project is utilised by the State, he explained.

M Priyokumar stated that the State spends Rs 29-32 crore per month in purchasing electricity but the revenue generated from the consumers is around Rs 17-20 crore.

He claimed that the company is able to procure the necessary power by virtue of the Rs 10 lakh power purchase subsidy provided by the State Government every month.

If the State did not provide the said subsidy and the revenues were not collected from the consumers, the State could be facing power shortage /inconveniences, the Managing Director added.

M Priyokumar informed that under the 12th five year plan, 192 villages of the State, out of 213, have been electrified and the remaining 21 villages will be electrified by the month of April.

Out of the total 2582 villages of Manipur, as per the 2011 census report, 2486 have been electrified and the remaining 96 villages will be provided electricity by April.

MANIREDA will undertake electrification works at 75 villages and MSPDCL will handle 21 villages, he added.

Replying to a query about loss Of electricity, Priyokumar said that the Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT & C) of the financial year 2015-16 was 44 percent and 37 percent during 2016-17.For the financial year 2017-18, the AT&C was at 28 percent last December, the Managing Director said and explained that the decline in the loss of power/electricity is due to implementation of prepaid meter system and the State Government is planning to reduce the figure to 15 percent by the financial year 2019-20.Priyokumar said that the MSPDCL has taken up necessary legal actions against 1568 cases in connection with power theft and out of these cases, FIRs have been lodged in 164 cases.

Two individuals were jailed for 10 days each for power theft.

1404 cases were settled with fine payment and the company has collected around Rs 37,02,008 till date.

Under Unnat Jeevan by Affordable LEDs and Appliances for All (UJALA) scheme, 1,30,446 LED bulbs and 21,347 tube lights have been distributed to the people till date, for the financial year 2017-18.The Managing Director stated that the company is planning to distribute 1,50,000 LED bulbs and 20,000 tube lights during the next financial year.

Speaking about transformers, Priyokumar said that the company has set up a transformer repairing workshop at Keishampat which has repaired around 177 transformers till date.

Pointing out that Manipur has around 5,600 transformers, the Managing Director said that it is nearly impossible to immediately replace a transformer with a new one when it develops any problem due to financial constraints.

As such the presence of the transformer repairing workshop is a boon, he added.

On the other hand, Priyokumar explained that people/consumers who apply for a fresh prepaid connection are not required to pay off pending dues, instead, the pending amount is deducted in small percent from the prepaid recharge whenever the consumer fills up the prepaid meter.

The amount of pending dues of the prepaid consumers of the State is around Rs 300 crore till date, he claimed.

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