Mondal attends NER Power Ministers’ Conference; seeks support from the Centre

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJuly 9, 2024

Power Minister of Meghalaya Abu Taher Mondal attends the NER Power Ministers’ Conference at Guwahati. Chaired by Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, the conference featured discussion of  matters related to Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution in Meghalaya and the Northeastern Region.

Dignitaries in attendance included Shashank Mishra, Joint Secretary, Distribution of Ministry of Power (MoP), Government of India, Jameer Uddin Ansari, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Power (MoP), Sanjay Goyal, IAS, Commissioner and Secretary, Power Department, Govt. of Meghalaya, Shri Ghanshyam Prasad, Chairperson of the Central Electricity Authority, Ministry of Power, Vivek Kumar Devangan, CMD of the Rural Electrification Corporation(REC) Limited, Rahul Dwivedi, ED, PMD, REC Limited, TSC Bosh, ED Admin REC Limited,  Shashank Mishra   delegates from PGCIL and NHPC among others.

Matters pertaining to the development of Pumped Storage Projects in Meghalaya were highlighted by Hon’ble Power Minister, Shri Abu Taher Mondal. Hon’ble Minister had also sought support from Central Government to provide financial assistance for development of PSP.

He also raised the matters pertaining to Central Financial Assistance for small hydro power projects in the state which has been stopped as of now by the Ministry.

The Minister also requested that the DPR submitted by Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited (MePDCL) for Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) Phase II be approved at the earliest. Hon’ble Minister also shared the matters related to gap in funding from Central Government between the Sanctioned Cost and the Discovered cost for RDSS Phase I.

All the points were taken into consideration by the delegates. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Sanjay Goyal, IAS, Commissioner and Secretary, reflected on household electrification to allow funding based on actual households electrified, rather than sanction on the basis of estimated households, which was also accepted by the Ministry Power.