Govt continues to underpay PSPCL for free farm power, arrears climb to ₹3,500 cr

PENDENCY Clubbed with ₹3,971 cr for remaining six months, figure is close to ₹7,500 cr, which govt has to clear before end of fiscal

PATIALA: Facing trouble even in paying salaries, the government of Punjab continues to find it tough to pay subsidy to the state power corporation for free electricity supply to the farming Sector. Even after the Congress wrested power from the SAD-BJP alliance after 10 years last March, the subsidy arrears have crossed ₹3,500 crore.

Clubbed with ₹3,971 crore for the remaining six months, the figure gets close to ₹7,500 crore, which the government has to clear before the end of the current fiscal year to continue free power for the next fiscal.

In the current fiscal, the government has so far paid ₹2,807.48 crore to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), running short by ₹1,164 crore if calculated by the previous year’s tariff.

With the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) yet to decide the tariff for the current fiscal, this amount can soar further. In fact, the regulatory commission has said that the subsidy should be paid monthly in advance.

The arrears, as is apparent, go back and beyond the current regime. “Last fiscal, against a subsidy of ₹7,943 crore, the government paid ₹5,600 crore, which created a shortfall of ₹2,342 crore. Add to this the shortfall of ₹1,164 crore for the first six months of 2017-18, and the figure reaches ₹3,506 crore,” explained a PSPCL officer on the condition of anonymity.

While the tariff order for the ongoing financial year 2017-18 has not been issued by the PSERC, it has allowed the subsidy to continue subject to the condition that the government pays to the PSPCL.

Retired power engineer Padamjit Singh said he has challenged the non-payment before the PSERC. “For continuation of the 2016-17 tariff to 2017-18, the slate of subsidy for the last fiscal should be made clean. That means the government must clear the shortfall of ₹2,342 crore. However, instead of paying this amount, the government has paid ₹1,164 crore less in this fiscal too.

This will destabilise the power corporation, and ultimately the employees and consumers will suffer,” he argued.

He added, “I will present a case that the government should clear the entire arrears of ₹3,506 crore along with the ₹ 3,971 crore for the last six months. Overall, the PSPCL has to receive ₹ 7,477 crore by March next. That means ₹1,240 crore a month.” The regulatory commission has fixed October 26 as the next date of hearing on Padamjit’s petition, on which the PSPCL and the government have to file replies.