Jharkhand govt to facilitate Rs 750 cr PFC loan to discom for payment of dues

Battling power crisis, the Jharkhand government has announced it will facilitate a Rs 750 crore loan from the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) to its discom for payment of outstanding dues to power generating firms.

The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday to assess the present power situation in the state against the backdrop of huge outstanding dues to power generating companies.

The Power System Operation Corporation Ltd in August had asked three power exchanges – Indian Energy Exchange Limited (IEX), Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL) and Hindustan Power Exchange Limited (HPX) -- to restrict electricity trading by 27 discoms in 13 states including Jharkhand for non-payment of late payment surcharge.

"The state government will facilitate Rs 750 crore loan from the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) to the Jharkhand Bijli Vitaran Nigam Ltd (JBVNL) for payment of outstanding dues to power generation companies," a communication from the Jharkhand government said.

Soren also gave nod for Rs 200 crore to JBVNL under the annual development plan scheme for augmenting infrastructure.

Power dues of Jharkhand stand at around Rs 4,000 crore, one of the highest among states.

The JBVNL owes about Rs 3,900 crore to Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), a central public sector enterprise (CPSE), as per officials.

Recently, Union Power Minister R K Singh has said that outstanding dues of electricity distribution companies (discoms) towards power generator companies (gencos), remain over Rs 1 lakh crore at any point in time, will be eliminated in the next four years.

The government has converted the total outstanding dues of discoms towards gencos into Equated Monthly Installments (EMIs).

"The total outstanding dues of the discoms towards gencos is around Rs 1,13,000 crore. These dues would be totally cleared by 2026," Singh has said.