Due to non-payment of around Rs 5,500 crore as subsidy by the state government, the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) has plunged into a deep financial crisis and has defaulted in payment of Rs 2,133 crore to various power-generation companies.
The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has even threatened to encash bank guarantees of PSPCL if they do not get their payment of Rs 138 crore by Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the employees of the power corporation, who have not received their salaries for November, on Tuesday started a ‘no pay, no work’ protest. They held a protest in front of the PSPCL headquarters here.
A PSPCL official, seeking anonymity, said that besides the pending Rs 2,133-crore power purchase bills, the PSPCL has to pay Rs 110-crore bills of coal purchase and Rs 200 crore as transmission charges.
“If we fail to make payment of power purchase, this will lead to a huge crisis as companies can snap power supply for non-payment of their bills. NTPC has already threatened to encash the bank guarantees, which has never happened in the past,” he said.
The government had to pay a total of Rs 14,972 crore as subsidy for free power to PSPCL for year 2019-20. However, it has paid only Rs 5,669 crore till date, putting the corporation in a deep financial crisis.
{{/usCountry}}The government had to pay a total of Rs 14,972 crore as subsidy for free power to PSPCL for year 2019-20. However, it has paid only Rs 5,669 crore till date, putting the corporation in a deep financial crisis.
{{/usCountry}}The government has to pay advance subsidy every month to fulfil its poll promise of free power to farmers, BPL families, SC and ST families, and subsidised power to industry.
Out of the paid amount of Rs 5,996 crore, only Rs 2,844 crore were paid in cash, and the remaining were book adjustments in lieu of interests of Uday bonds and infrastructure development fee.
“PSPCL has slipped into a serious financial crisis. It is unable to disburse salaries and pensions. Out of total Rs 14,972-crore subsidy, the government has paid only Rs 5,669 crore. The overall default till December 1 is Rs 5,496 crore. Besides, various government departments have not paid power bills to tune of Rs 2,150 crore,” said Sanjeev Sood, president, PSEB Engineers Association.
Meanwhile, various PSPCL unions threatened to go on a complete shutdown, if the government fails to pay the subsidy amount soon.
PSPCL chairman-cum-director (CMD) Baldev Singh Sran said, “We have a total liability of Rs 3,117 crore on December 1. On power purchase bills, we are incurring interest to the tune of 16%, which is a further blow to PSPCL. We have sent an SOS to Punjab government to salvage the situation”.
“I can’t pay salaries, if the Punjab government does not release money,” said Sran, who has apprised the chief minister office and the finance department about the situation.
He, however, said the PSPCL has paid salaries to all Class 4 employees and pensions to those whose are given less than Rs 25,000 per month.