Shillong, Jun 9: The Cabinet on Wednesday has decided to bail out the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) and stood guarantor for the Rs. 1345 crore Aatmanirbhar loan which the state had taken from the MeECL to pay the dues of the different power generating companies.
Speaking to journalists after the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said, “We will give a chance to the MeECL and to the Power department with 100 percent budgetary support for the Aatmanirbhar loan but this support will come along with certain targets that need to be met in a time bound manner.”
Sangma also said that there has to be some kind of a security in terms of mortgage of assets (of MeECL) to the government of Meghalaya to ensure that there is some kind of safety and security for the state government also.
He also informed that the Finance and the Power departments has been asked to work out in detail the different targets that the Power department and MeECL specifically will achieve.
Sangma also clarified to the cabinet that these funds are going to come out of the same pool of resources that the state government has.
“So therefore, any payment or any support that is given will come from the overall development budget of the state therefore impacting the overall development aspect also,” Sangma warned.
According to the Chief Minister, even though there have been a lot of concerns in the public about the Distribution Franchisees but these are not something new.
He informed that Distribution Franchisees have been there for a long time, and they are in operation in the State even now.
“A large number of them are in Garo Hills, some are there in Khasi Hills also and some are there in Jaintia Hills also. So across the states the Distribution Franchisees have been there for quite some time, it’s not a new concept,” Sangma informed.