Shillong, June 3: Meghalaya government has urged the Ministry of Power, Government of India, to keep the invocation of TPA in abeyance for the recovery of the outstanding power dues of the State.

In a letter to the Secretary in-charge Ministry of Power on June 1, Meghalaya Chief Secretary, MS Rao said that invocation of TPA and debiting Rs 123.66 crores from the state account in these trying times when the state government is battling the 2nd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic which, amongst other things, has adversely affected the finances of the state government will hamper its fight against COVID-19.

He added that the number of COVID-19 cases in the state is still high and the state’s finances are already stressed.

In view of this, he urged, “I would request that the TPA invocation be kept in abeyance as we have addressed the concerns raised by you.”

Release of second tranche of Atmanirbhar loan

The Chief Secretary has requested the Centre to release the second tranche of the Atmanirbhar loan at the earliest so that the State can clear dues of NEEPCO and other Gencos and DISCOM.

His letter was in response to the four issues raised by the Ministry on May 31 regarding discrepancies that need to be rectified by the state government within June 3, failing which the relevant provision of the TPA will be invoked to recover the said dues.

Rao said the outstanding dues as on December 31, 2020 was Rs 50.62 Cr. In this regard, it was already informed through email dated May 11 and letter dated May 17, this year that provisions have been made under the budget of various departments to make the necessary payment to MePDCL for offices under their jurisdiction.

This was done to follow the necessary procedures for payment of bills to the utility. However, since this seems to be a pressing concern for the Ministry of Power, Finance department of the state government has released an amount of Rs 20 crore to the power department, he informed.

As the sanction letter mentions, the amount will be utilized to clear off the current dues so that the present outstanding balance stands at Rs 42.03 crore which is lower than the balance at the time of release of the 1st tranche of the Atmanirbhar loan, he added.

The chief Secretary also stated that the exact subsidy amount to be paid over the period of 3 years has been finalized recently by the state government and the same was communicated to REC vide letter dated May 17.