UP discoms’ dues to state-run gencos reach staggering Rs 17,000 cr

The Uttar Pradesh electricity distribution companies (discoms) dues to the state-run generation utilities, such as Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (UPRVUNL), UP Power Transmission Corporation (UPTCL) and UP Jal Vidyut Nigam have soared to Rs 17,000 crore.

Though the Centre’s liquidity infusion scheme under the Atmanirbhar Bharat package helped these discoms to bring down their dues to central public sector units (CPSUs) and independent power producers (IPPS) down from Rs 27,000 crore to Rs 5,688 crore at the end of March 2021, the dues remain staggeringly high.

Speaking to FE, M Devaraj, chairman of UPPCL as well as the three-state utilities, said that while the discoms owed UPRVUNL Rs 10,500 crore, the dues of UPTCL stand at Rs 5,800 crore and that of UPJVN’s at Rs 650 crore. It may be mentioned that UPRVUNL is a wholly-owned state thermal power company, having a generating capacity of 5474 MW. It operates four thermal power stations within the state, Anpara, Obra, Harduaganj and Parichha.

“Depending on fund availability, we try to give money to the state gencos, too, to meet their requirements, but ultimately everything boils down to revenue. The more revenue we get from the consumers, the more we can pass it on to the different generators,” Devaraj said.

UPPCL’s total expenses, including O&M, is around Rs 77,000 crore per annum, against which it gets a government subsidy of around Rs 12,000 crore.