Correspondent
Shillong: Meghalaya Power Minister AT Mondal on Friday said the state remains committed to achieving 100% rural electrification by the end of 2028, despite challenges. “In Meghalaya, we still have hundreds of villages which are not electrified or de-electrified, but we do have hope that by end of 2028 all these villages will be connected, and here RDSS is helping us in a big way,” said Mondal, acknowledging that the state’s power sector is “still in evolving position.”
Speaking on the sidelines of the National Power Committee (NPC) meeting held in Shillong, Mondal emphasized the importance of exploring future-ready solutions like Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs), while also highlighting financial constraints. “If we can develop PSP, it is nothing like that. But the investment in Pumped Storage Project is huge. If we go for 1000 MW, may be it touch Rs 20,000 crores. For the state of Meghalaya, we are not in a position to go for this project,” he said.
He added that Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma remains “very enthusiastic to see that the power sector develops.”
Reflecting on recent improvements, Mondal said, “Two years back, the state was having schedule loadshedding for nine hours. Even in capital Shillong, we used to go for load shedding for seven hours. That was scheduled loadshedding. That means our power sector was in a tight position. Now we do not have single schedule loadshedding. May be we have power cuts due to disruption.”
Highlighting regional funding issues, the minister pointed to delays in the release of central funds. “Considering the freezing fund from the Power System Development Fund (PSDF) for almost one year, most of the proposals for the North Eastern Region state have been kept on hold,” he stated.
The NPC meeting, hosted in Shillong, focused on resolving inter-regional power issues, harmonising best practices across Regional Power Committees (RPCs), and boosting cooperation among states. Representatives from multiple states attended the deliberations.
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