ANANTAPUR: Recovery of a whopping Rs 1,858 crore pending electricity dues from various government offices in the district has posed a challenge to APSPDCL. Despite repeated notices and reminders issued by APSPDCL, the power dues remain uncleared. The Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi (HNSS) office alone has owed Rs 716 crore to APSPDCL, while the total dues of the 11 civic bodies have amounted to Rs 162.42 crore.
According APSPDCL officials, the total pending electricity dues from government offices are Rs 1,213 crore. The Rural Water Supply Department has owed Rs 244.75 crore, Sathya Sai Water Supply Scheme Rs 212.39 crore, education department Rs 2.26 crore, medical and health department Rs 5.72 crore and revenue department Rs 1.37 crore to the Discom. The HNSS project consumes electricity worth Rs 13 crore to Rs 14 crore per month, while the RWS power bill is Rs 4.6 crore. But they do not pay the power bills promptly, which has resulted in accumulation of dues. The total power bill dues of all panchayats in the district to the Discom are Rs 482.07 crore.
While dealing with the government offices, APSPDCL cannot disconnect power supply as in case of a domestic consumer to recover electricity dues. As a result, the dues have accumulated to the tune of hundreds of crores. APTransco Superintending Engineer Nagaraju maintained that the government offices are not responding promptly to notices issued by the Discom seeking clearance of pending bills.
“We disconnected power supply to the municipal office in Kalyandurg recently. The municipality has cleared part of the dues. Henceforth, we will act tough against the government offices to collect the pending power dues.”
HNSS office owes Rs 716 cr to SPDCL
The HNSS office alone has owed Rs 716 crore to APSPDCL, while the total dues of the 11 civic bodies in Anantapur have amounted to Rs 162.42 crore. Other government offices in the district need to pay Rs 1,213 crore charges to APSPDCL