Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government has directed the UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) to provide 24X7 electricity to consumers of all categories in cities and villages from mid-December till March, apparently with an eye on the assembly elections that are only less than two months away, people in the know of things revealed.
According to them, to make sure that the corporation has adequate cash flow to purchase additional power from producers, the government is going to make an allocation of more than ₹1600 crore in the supplementary budget as additional government subsidy apart from providing it ₹5,000 crore immediately.
The supplementary budget proposals will be tabled in the state assembly on Thursday.
According to the budget proposal accessed by HT, the energy department has proposed a financial assistance of ₹5,000 crore for the UPPCL immediately to execute the government’s directions for supply of uninterrupted electricity in the state from December 15, besides making a budgetary allocation of ₹1600 crore as additional government subsidy.
“The UPPCL needs this much amount so that it may ensure uninterrupted power supply as directed by the government by clearing pending dues to power generating companies,” an energy department official said.
The energy department has pointed out that the corporation’s revenue collection had been adversely affected since the second wave of the Covid-19 even as the power purchase cost was growing.
{{/usCountry}}The energy department has pointed out that the corporation’s revenue collection had been adversely affected since the second wave of the Covid-19 even as the power purchase cost was growing.
{{/usCountry}}“It is necessary to provide ₹1600 crore to the UPPCL in the form of supplementary budget or as the state grant for the current financial year in addition to the regular government subsidy,” says the proposal.
Currently, UPPCL provides 24-hour power only to big cities while district headquarters and villages get electricity for 22 and 18 hours respectively.
OTS extended
Meanwhile, the UPPCL on Wednesday announced more extension of the one-time settlement scheme for defaulters till December 31, according to a spokesman.
“The extended OTS that was to be over on December 15 has been extended till December 31 on the chief minister’s directives,” he said.