Nagaland: 662.37 MU total units of power purchased in 2020-21

Kohima: Nagaland purchased a total of 662.37 units of power for 2020-21 data till December last year, informed the state government on Tuesday.

As per the data that was made available, 805.67 MU was purchased in 2016-17, 794.68 MU in 2017-18, 837.86 MU in 2018-19, and 869.22 MU in 2019-20.

Opposition MLA Amenba Yaden had raised the starred question on the third day of the ongoing Assembly session in Kohima.

On query, if the state profits from the resale of power, the power department responded saying “Although the supply condition of power in the state has greatly improved and Nagaland was the first state in the North East to reach 100% of all recognised villages, it is unable to make a profit on the resale of power”.

It stated that the losses were mainly due to widely-spread consumers across all “strata of society, high level of rural distribution, the tendency of our consumers not to pay for their actual consumption”, and so on.

The state also received a total of 20.65 MU from the Doyang Hydro Project owned by NEEPCO free of cost for 2020.

The total units of power received free of cost are 29.62 MU in 2016-17, 31.19 MU in 2017-18, 26.33 MU in 2018-19.

“The department is taking up various initiatives like the introduction of online payment of electricity bills, installation of pre-paid meters, engagement of anti-power theft police squad and so on but the challenges are very huge and it requires the collective effort of both the department and society to tackle the matter together,” it added.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Nagaland chief minister stated that the state spends over Rs 200 crore annually for the purchase of power from other states and that the purchase rate is about 90%.