THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The KSEB will be forced to go for loadshedding if the Kerala Water Authority does not provide the first installment arrears of Rs 500 crore to it.
At a high-level committee chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to address the power crisis in the state, a conclusive decision on providing Rs 2,300 crore arrears that the KWA owes to the board or additional borrowing of resources was not taken.
Pinarayi has constituted a high-level committee including the chief secretary, the power secretary and secretaries of various departments, and KSEB chairman and managing director to address the stalemate.
Pinarayi has granted permission to the KSEB to borrow Rs 500 crore in April. It may be recalled that he had sanctioned a borrowing limit of Rs 700 crore in last December and another Rs 200 crore this month. Despite the CM directing the KWA in last October to pay Rs 37 crore every month to the board through an escrow account, it was not done.
The KWA’s claim is that if they start paying the monthly amount to the board, then the salary of its staff and pension disbursal would be affected. A top power department official told TNIE that a whopping Rs 3,480 crore arrears from various government institutions are pending.
“The decision that KWA will pay Rs 2068 crore to the board in installments over a period of 10 years is not feasible. It will not help address the crisis the board is facing as the recommendation is not practical. KSEB CMD demanded that an immediate first installment of Rs 500 crore be paid by KWA,” said a top official of the power department.
The crisis being faced by the board is not a trivial one as Rs 16 crore is currently required per day to buy power from the power exchange making a liability of a whopping Rs 1477 crore in three months as advance payment. The board expects that by April they might have to cough up Rs 22 crore as summer will be at its peak. Also, the inflow to the dams is only 35% which will push production down when the demand rises rapidly. The cancellation of the 465 mw power purchase agreement also has added to the woes resulting in loss of energy availability by 10% - 15%.
The high-level meeting also decided to make advance deposits more attractive by providing increased rebate as the KSEB wants to improve its cash flow. Currently, 2% rebate is being provided to the consumers for six months and 4% rebate for a year. The CM also agreed to a proposal put forward by the board to go for a 500 mw long- term PPA after checking the legal aspects. If the earlier 465 mw cancelled PPA was for 25 years, the new proposal has been mooted for a 15-year duration. Pinarayi has urged the board to look into its feasibility.
Consumption hits record high
Kochi: The power consumption in the state continued above 100 MU for the third consecutive day on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the state set another record in peak consumption as the consumption touched 5,066 MW at 10.29 pm on Wednesday. The state had broken the previous record of 5024 MW set on April 19, 2023 as the consumption touched 5031 MW at 10.40 pm on March 11.