NHPC to pull plug on 3 discoms for non-payment of dues

Power may be regulated by National Hydro Power Corporation to three discoms, one each in Assam, Mizoram and Meghalaya.

All three utilities--Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd., Power and Electricity Department, Govt. of Mizoram, and Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd. -- have failed to keep up with the Letter of Credit  stipulations of the Bulk Power Supply Agreement signed by them.

As an consequence, NHPC now has the authority to regulate power if its dues are not repaid, and LCs not maintained.

The BSPA regulations confirm NHPC`s standpoint of maintaining some form of payment security mechanism, failing which, the regulation of power supply may be affected by it.

Since the discoms have inarguably defaulted on the LC requirements, they are currently serving a notice period, failing to act within which, the regulation of power supply shall come into effect from the 20th day of this month for a period of 180 days. Following this, NHPC shall have the authority to terminate the agreement if the companies do not remedy the default.

The amount outstanding for APDCL is Rs 19.51 crore, while for MeECL it is 15.27 crore. The two discoms draw roughly 30 MW and 13 MW of power respectively from NHPC`s Loktak HEP.