Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Min upset with state over dues
MUMBAI: While Maharashtra is staring at a power crisis, politics on the issue seemed to have worsened with energy minister Nitin Raut voicing his resentment over pending electricity dues with state government departments.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who is Raut’s predecessor in the energy department, alleged that the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was trying to deliberately starve the department of funds so that the power sector plunges into a crisis, thus discrediting the Congress which holds the portfolio.
The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has ₹64,093 crore worth arrears from all categories of consumers like residential (₹2,304 crore), commercial (₹492 crore), industrial (₹2,845 crore) and agricultural (₹40,247 crore). This also includes ₹9,176 crore that are due from government departments like rural development, urban development and government offices.
“The rural development department has not paid us,” said Raut. “Some officials from the state government want us to waive off penal interest and late payment fees on bills due from the rural development and urban development departments. But if this is done for the state government, how can we continue to recover this from the common consumer?” asked Raut, while calling on the government to reconsider this position and pay them this money.
The growth in electricity demand due to the soaring heat, rise in consumption by industrial and agricultural consumers and the nationwide coal crisis, which has affected inventories at the Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited’s (MahaGenco) thermal power stations, has led to the MSEDCL facing a gap of around 2,500 MW to 3,000 MW. The power distribution utility has started load-shedding or power cuts across the state.
In the past, Raut has pointed to how the power sector utilities are facing a cash crunch.
“In Maharashtra, the finance department has not ensured a cash flow for the energy department over the past two years. The cash flow has been affected due to the fight between two ministers,” said Bawankule, while attacking Raut and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who is also the finance minister, blaming the state government.
However, the minister for energy blamed the union government for not giving adequate coal stocks to the state government, thus pushing it into a crisis mode.