Power Ministry declares 27 companies as defaulters

Jaipur: Ministry of Power has declared 27 power companies of 13 states including Rajasthan as defaulters in case of negligence in payment of dues. The Ministry’s undertaking POSOCO has directed all the three power exchanges- Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), Power Exchange of India (PXIL) and Hindustan Power Exchange (HPX)- to ban power trade with the defaulter power companies with immediate effect. Apart from Rajasthan, power companies of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand are included in the list.

POSOCO, which manages the integrated operation of the power system in the country, had recently asked all the states to not delay payment by more than two and a half months. On non-payment, the Ministry of Power took major action on power companies. Rajasthan’s electricity companies have dues of about 280 crores. The officials of Rajasthan DISCOMs had already received the indications of getting declared defaulter on arrears of more than 75 days but no one was aware of such strong action. On directions by Principal Energy- Secretary Bhaskar A Sawant, the office was opened today on holiday. From Chief Engineer to the entire staff, work on files of power purchase arrears was done so that payment can be released.