BANGALORE: With a debt of more than Rs 5000 crore, the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) is reeling under non-recovery of long standing dues from various energy players across the state.
According to officials, the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) owes around Rs 900 crore to KPCL. .
The state Electricity Supply Companies (ESCOMs) accumulated a debt of over Rs 5400 crore in 2011. Many KPCL officials said that diversifying equity at 25 per cent to recuperate losses would not be helpful. “Even if we divest equity, we will not get any value for the assets. They are all many years old,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity.
However, he refused to blame it all on the ESCOMs. “They have problems like theft, price regulations and defaulters. A way out of this would be for the government to help ESCOMs to repay KPCL,” he said. The government stated that it would bail out ESCOM by paying a part of the dues but no action was taken. Energy Minister Shobha Karandjale was unavailable for comment.