Manipur needs Rs 25 cr monthly for power

Manipur needs Rs 25 crores every month for getting 16 hours of daily electricity supply, Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh informed state assembly on Thursday. Presently, the state is getting power supply only 4 hours.

The chief minister, who is also in charge of Finance, said Manipur is paying Rs 10 crores every month to NEEPCO for purchasing power.

The state would not get any power supply if the state government fails to pay the amount at any point of time.

Even though, the state is paying Rs 120 crores every year in purchasing power, tax collection is very low with only about Rs 2 crores.

Presently, the government is trying its best to collect outstanding dues from the defaulting consumers, the chief minister informed the house, adding that some employees even faced threats when they went to collect the power bills.

In order to get rid of the problem, the government is planning to chalk out a solution by discussing with various consultants in this field. The government has also begun to study other states power management system to see if they can be applied in Manipur as well.

The pre-paid billing system has been introduced recently in Imphal city on trial basis to see whether it can be successfully expanded to all the power consumers in the state.

In some other states, private companies purchase power from the government and supply it to the consumers, thus saving the government from the headache of dues collection.

The government has also been looking into the possibility of setting up a power development corporation in order to improve the power situation as well as collection of power dues.