Meghalaya Govt signs MoA for Wah Umiam stage-I & II, assures to give more projects to NEEPCO

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaOctober 25, 2022

Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Tuesday assured that more projects upto 1,000 megawatts will be given to the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO).

He was addressing at the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for development of Wah Umiam Hydro Electric Project (50 MW) Stage-I and Wah Umiam Hydro Electric Project (100 MW) Stage-II between the Power Department and NEEPCO.

Both Stage-I and Stage-II will cost around Rs 1,750 crore with 70 percent loan.

Addressing the occasion, Power Minister Prestone Tynsong said altogether the government has signed projects of 235 megawatts – Umiam stage-I, stage-II and stage-III – with NEEPCO.

“The agreement signed in 2019 for stage-III is not in the final stage and I am sure NEEPCO will immediately start the implementation process. Again, for the other two projects of 50 MW and 100 MW, I am sure tomorrow itself the NEEPCO officials will go to the ground,” he said.

He said the state will avail the benefit of free power up to 12% once the projects of 235 megawatts are completed.

Assuring that more such agreements will be signed with the NEEPCO in the near future, the deputy chief minister said, “More projects will be given to you and it may even reach 1,000 megawatts. I am serious and the government is also serious about it.”

“We will leave no stone unturned but to ensure that the agreement signed is ultimately translated into benefits for the people of the state…I request that this should not be a mere signing of agreement but we need to translate it into reality.”

Stating that the government is working towards bringing transformation in the power sector, Tynsong said, “I urge the NEEPCO to let us work jointly so that in few years from now Meghalaya will be able to export power outside the state. This is our dream.”

He further informed that the government is planning to have more basins in the days to come.

“Right now such basins are in the stage of investigation and in the stage of DPR. These include Leshka stage-II and Basin Umngi. We have some more basins throughout the state which I will discuss this issue with (with NEEPCO) in my office in the days to come,” the deputy chief minister said.

Also stating that the potential of Meghalaya in terms of hydro projects is not less than 3,000 megawatts, he however said of this, the state could only generate power of 350 MW against the requirement which is more than 650MW. Therefore, the state is facing a huge deficit of 50%.

Tynsong said when the MDA government took over in 2018, the memorandum of agreements (MoAs) signed with different private investors’ way back in 2007-08 have to be scrapped and cancelled as it was “purely for the sake of signing a paper”.

“We will also review the agreements signed with a few more private investors and if need be, we are going to cancel and scrap them (as well),” he said.