CHENNAI: Facing cash crunch due to the poor collection of power bills during the pandemic, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (Tangedco) has sought a relief package of Rs 32,682.65 crore through power-lending agencies to pay up the dues to interstate power producers and central generating stations (CGS).
As per data from the payment ratification and analysis portal (PRAAPTI) of the Ministry of Power, Tamil Nadu had the second-highest dues of Rs 175.29 billion, of which Rs 149.11 billion has been overdue for over 60 days (March to May) impacting payments to IPPs and CGS.
Tangedco officials said the Central government had announced a special Covid-19 financial assistance package worth Rs 90,000 crore through power-lending agencies such as Power finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), following which the State-owned power company had initially submitted a proposal of Rs 20,622 crore to cover dues up to March 2020 of the generators, including renewable energy generators.
Following a meeting with Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Energy Minister P Thangamani recently, the officials sent a revised proposal for Rs 32,682.65 crore to the power-lending agencies to include dues till June 2020. “The proposal is under consideration of the agencies and as soon as the financial assistance is sanctioned, the pending payments to power generators will be cleared,” Tangedco official sources said.
It is also learnt that the Power Ministry, as a short-term relief, has instructed the discoms to pay at least 50 per cent of the monthly dues for March to August, to which the Tangedco has complied. A Tangedco spokesman said that as per the Power Ministry’s instruction to maintain payment security to the power generators, Tagedco has ensured that Letter of Credit is provided to IPPs and CGS from this month onwards.
CLARIFICATION
Former Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam on Saturday informed senior police officers of the Chennai city police that the apartment at Raja Annamalai Puram where 29 men were arrested for gambling, is not owned by him. He gave the clarification after the report titled ‘Former CJI’s house used for gambling in Chennai?’ was carried by The New Indian Express in edition dated August 15, 2020.