Delhi govt asks BSES to pay Rs6,000 crore dues
BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna have to pay around `4,500 crore to Indraprastha Power and Pragati Power for supplying electricity in last 5 years
New Delhi: The AAP government has strictly directed Reliance Infra-backed BSES power distribution companies to immediately clear dues of nearly ₹ 6,000 crore to Delhi Transco Ltd and two state-run power generation companies.
Top officials in the Delhi government said BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL) have been ignoring notices by the power department to pay the dues and it may now consider “punitive action" against the two discoms.
They said both the discoms have to pay around ₹ 4,500 crore to Delhi government-run power generation companies Indraprastha Power Generation Company Ltd and Pragati Power Corporation Limited for supplying power in the last five years.
“They have to pay the two power generation companies for supply of power since 2009," said a senior official of the power department.
The two power generation companies supply around 800 MW of power to BSES daily. The official said the two discoms have also failed to clear dues to the tune of ₹ 1,500 crore to Delhi Transco Ltd for using its network. The Delhi Transco Ltd maintains all major power transmission network in the city and discoms have to pay it for using the network.
“Both the BSES discoms owe a total of around ₹ 6,000 crore to Delhi government-run power distribution companies. We are exploring various options to recover the dues," said the official. Another senior official said the financial health of the three companies have deteriorated because of non-payment of the dues by the BSES discoms. He said Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd has been making regular payments to all three Delhi government-run companies.
BSES has been maintaining that it was going through a difficult financial condition as it has not been allowed to recover around ₹ 10,000 crore in losses due to increase in power purchase cost and low tariff.
Reliance Group companies have sued HT Media Ltd, Mint’s publisher, and nine others in the Bombay high court over a 2 October 2014 front-page story that they have disputed. HT Media is contesting the case.
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