Shillong, June 13: More than 200 villages in Meghalaya are still in the dark as electricity is yet to reach them.
Reeling out statistics of its achievements on the completion of three years of the Narendra Modi government, the Union power ministry, in its report, has stated that as on April 1, 2015, there were 912 unelectrified villages in Meghalaya.
Of these, 688 villages have so far been electrified. Of the remaining 224 villages, 10 are uninhabited.
As of today, the inhabited villages which are yet to be electrified include 98 in East Garo Hills, seven in East Khasi Hills, 14 in Ri Bhoi, 13 in South Garo Hills, eight in West Garo Hills, 24 in West Jaintia Hills and 50 in West Khasi Hills.
The ministry noted that the energy shortage in Meghalaya has been reduced to "nil" in April 2017 from 10.6 per cent in 2013-14. It also pointed out that peak shortage has reduced to 0.3 per cent in April 2017 from 3.8 per cent in 2013-14.
The conventional generation capacity in Meghalaya has increased by more than 14 per cent in the last three years, the ministry said. The generation capacity in the state has increased from 424.24 MW in March 2014 to 487.28 MW in March 2017.
On the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (Uday), which is a reform to turnaround power-distribution companies to ensure 24x7 "Power for All", the ministry said an overall estimated benefit of approximately Rs 600 crore would accrue to the state during the period of turnaround by way of debt turnover by the state, interest savings by issuing of Uday bonds, cheaper funds, reduction in Aggregate Transmission and Commercial (AT&C) losses, interventions in energy efficiency, coal reforms and others.
The ministry said under this scheme, the state will also save approximately more than Rs 300 crore annually after the period of turnaround.
Regarding the Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (Ujala), the ministry said that more than two lakh light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs have so far been distributed in Meghalaya.
The ministry said this has resulted into savings of Rs 12 crore per year for the consumers in their electricity bills, avoiding peak demand of 6MW and reducing 24,509 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.
