Rs. 926 crore dues! The central government bans tamil Nadu from buying electricity! Risk of a power outage? urges immediate action.
The news that the central government has ordered a ban on tamil Nadu to purchase electricity is shocking as the tamil Nadu government has arrears of Rs.926 crore to the power generation companies. The tamil Nadu Power Board generates less than a third of the state's electricity requirement.
A large amount of electricity is purchased from the external market (out of 16652 MW of installed capacity of conventional energy sources of tamil Nadu, 4335 MW is obtained from private power generation and 6972 MW is the share of central government power plants). Even though the power board explained that the outstanding amount is less, the tamil Nadu government should take steps to pay the amount immediately and remove the ban. The fear of the people of tamil Nadu that the "dark times" will come again should be dispelled.
It is important to mention in this context that these states jointly owe around Rs 5,100 crore in current dues to power generators. Further, the power distribution utilities have accumulated dues of more than Rs 1 lakh crore, which are being settled as per a plan formulated by the Centre.
This will be a regular feature now. It may cause some inconvenience but will bring the required discipline,” the official added.Meanwhile, prime minister Narendra Modi last month urged the states to pay power bills which are estimated at around Rs 2.5 lakh crore. He, however, regretted that the states were yet to clear subsidy commitments amounting to Rs 75,000 crore to power companies.
