THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Union government has provided additional grants of Rs 653.95 crore to the KSEB to tide over the losses in power distribution. The state had previously received Rs 2,235.78 crore from the Centre, but the power department felt it was inadequate.
The additional grant has been approved under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), which aims to ensure that quality power is made available without interruptions, financial stability in the energy sector, better working capacity and reliability. The Centre provides 60% of the loss amount as grants, while the state government provides the remaining 40%.
When the Centre sanctioned Rs 2,235.78 crore earlier, Power Minister K Krishnankutty had informed the Union government that the amount was sanctioned before the power tariff was increased.
“Following this, talks were held with the officials of the Ministry of Power. A similar discussion was held with the Union power minister too. On Thursday, we got the additional grant of Rs 653.95 crore taking the total to Rs 2,889.73 crore,” said Krishnankutty.