Hyderabad: A sum of Rs 1,600 crore is due from the Telangana government departments to the two discoms of the region.
Ironically, it is public money that is being wasted for it and the burden is passed on to consumers in one form or the other.
Senior officials of the two discoms have submitted to the government for clearance of the bills, but both the energy and finance ministries have reportedly expressed their inability to pay such a big amount that cannot be adjusted before the end of a financial year.
The government also excused itself by saying that was a new state and several issues pending in the power sector cannot be cleared at this juncture.
Panchayat raj and rural development ministry tops the defaulters list with Rs 885 crore followed by department of municipal administration at Rs 153 crore.
When contacted, an official in the PR department said almost all the panchayats in the state have power dues and it is difficult for the department to recover them as the local bodies are cash-starved.
Irrigation department owes nearly Rs 200 crore out of which lift irrigation schemes owe Rs 134 crore, according to a senior official of TSSPDCL.
While the Metro water and sewerage board owes nearly Rs 145 crore, the GHMC too has its share of due with Rs 11 crore. Other government departments owe an amount less than Rs 20 crore.
Energy Department has admitted that the collection efficiency is somewhat poor and needs to be improved a lot.
“If Telangana DISCOMS are to achieve AT and C loss below 10%, it is imperative for DISCOMS to achieve a billing efficiency of more than 90%. Therefore DISCOMS should take steps to reduce billing exception cases” a report by Energy department said.
Both TSSPDCL and TSNPDCL have a total tariff order subsidy of nearly 2950 crore in agriculture sector which was 2687 crore last financial year.
Tariff subsidy is projected to grow 15% annually due to increase in agricultural and domestic connections and is also increased cost. The Average Revenue Reports and new Tariff orders will have to be submitted by both the Discoms by January 24.
