Meghalaya terminates MoA after 270 MW power project fails to take off

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaAugust 7, 2020

The state government has terminated the memorandum of association (MoA) signed with the M/s Jaiprakash Power Ventures Limited after the 270 megawatt Umngot Hydro Electric Project failed to take off even after 13 years.

The decision was taken at the cabinet meeting chaired by the Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday.

“The Cabinet has approved the proposal to terminate the MoA signed by the government of Meghalaya with the M/s JP Power Ventures Limited for implementation of the project and also that the fees of Rs 1.35 need not be returned,” Power Minister James K Sangma told reporters after the meeting.

Asked, Sangma said the MoA was signed way back in 2007 and this project has not taken off despite so much time having lapsed.

“Therefore, to clear the slate on this matter that it doesn’t hang in limbo so we decided to clear the status of the MoA once and for all,” he added.

Stating that there are various reasons due to which the project has failed to take off, the power minister however said, “The main reason was that M/s JP Power Ventures Ltd, they are also facing a lot of financial problems, there are many issues and this is one of them.”  

 Whether there will be any new Expression of Interest (EoI) floated for this project, Sangma said, “We are looking at considering that for now but the decision today was only on terminating the MoA.”