IMPHAL, June 30 - Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh on Wednesday said that about 3.5 lakh consumers will be enjoying pre-paid power supply by December this year.
Stating that approximately 2.2 lakh prepaid meters have been installed against the target of 3.5 lakh, the Chief Minister disclosed, �Monthly average revenue collection has increased from Rs 4 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 11 crore in 2015-16.�
Ibobi was speaking at the Conference on Electricity and related issues for Manipur and Mizoram organised by Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) for Manipur and Mizoram in association with Manipur State Power Company Ltd (MSPCL) and Manipur State Power Distribution Company (MSPDCL) here on Wednesday.
After the implementation of the new power supply mechanism, most of the residents in the State capital of Manipur which has a shortfall of 80 MW to 90 MW in peak hour requirement in winter, now enjoy 24X7 power supply.
Power-starved Manipur which became the first State in India�s North East to introduce pre-paid meters, is getting pre-paid power since April, 2012.
He also informed that Manipur has prepared a vision document for providing 24X7 power for all by 2019 with the creation of additional transmission infrastructure. The State Government has taken up steps for integrating 81 number of 33 KV sub stations to main control centre at SLDC Manipur, he added.
The Ministry of Power, Government of India has committed 100 per cent electrification of villages by 2018 and access to all households by 2019. Manipur has achieved 87.5 per cent village electrification out of 2,582 villages. The remaining villages will be electrified under Central schemes whereas off-grid villages will be electrified by Manipur Renewable Energy Development Agency.
JERC Chairperson RK Kishore Singh opined that lots of development have happened in power sector of Manipur after the State Electricity department has been corporatised into two companies � MSPCL and MSPDCL � in the early part of 2014.
