Raut seeks Rs10k cr for MSEDCL from Centre

Nagpur: Energy minister Nitin Raut has sought Rs10,000 crore assistance from Union power ministry for the cash-strapped Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Corporation Limited (MSEDCL).
In a letter to power minister RK Singh, Raut said that about 60% revenue of the discom came from industrial and commercial consumers. Since beginning of the lockdown the industrial and commercial sales have stopped and MSEDCL is facing a cash crunch. Residential consumers have been given three months to pay their bills. Consequently, MSEDCL’s revenue realization has come down drastically.
Raut further said that in the past few years due to delay in approval of tariff hike by Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) and inadequate tariff hike, the discom was facing a liquidity problem. It had been unable to pay the generation and transmission companies too. This had resulted in huge arrears, which MSEDCL is unable to pay off.
Rural Electricity Corporation (REC) and Power Finance Corporation (PFC) have agreed to lend Rs5,000 crore to MSEDCL. However, despite state government guaranteeing the loan, they have not reduced their rate of interest. This will create an interest liability of Rs500 crore per year on MSEDCL, said Raut.