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NTPC, DVC owe Rs 9,000 crore to Coal India: Official

Power generation firms like NTPC and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) have outstanding dues of around Rs 9,000 crore to state-owned Coal India (CIL).

"Power PSU like NTPC and DVC have dues of around Rs 9,000 crore to Coal India," an official said.

Companies which owe money to the coal PSU include West Bengal Power Development Corp and Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Co, the official said.

NTPC spokesperson was not available for comments. According to industry analysts, the power generation firms owe huge dues to Coal India as state electricity distribution companies which buys electricity from power PSUs are facing tough financial conditions and in the last one year the situation of these Discoms have not improved.

"Non-payment of dues by Discoms to power and coal supplier is not sustainable, it would cause a break in supply chain. Answer lies in cost reflective tariffs   and loss reduction in a time-bound manner," Association of Power Producers Director General Ashok Khurana said.

In the wake of many state discoms facing tough financial conditions, the previous government had come out with a financial restructuring scheme for them.

The scheme had a total outlay of Rs 1,000 crore for the entire 12th Five-Year Plan period, which ends in March 2017. Later, it was increased and a provision of Rs 1,500 crore was made only for 2013-14.

A Parliamentary panel had earlier suggested that the government should review the financial restructuring package for state electricity power distribution firms as not many states have shown interest in the scheme.

"Now the government has provided an outlay of only Rs 400 crore for the current year as no funds could be utilised during the year 2013-14 due to non-filing of claims by the participating states," the report had said.

source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com