₹1,498 crore paid to CIL this month, claims govt

MUMBAI: While the Central government claims Maharashtra has defaulted on payment of dues to Coal India Limited (CIL), which contributes to the ongoing power crisis, the state government has refuted the charge. Officials said the state purchased coal to the tune of around ₹1,200 crore to ₹1,500 crore every month, and the payments were made as per the cycle laid down in the agreement with coal companies. The state had already paid ₹1,498.37 crore to CIL this month, the officials said.

Union power minister R K Singh on Thursday said power outages were primarily happening because states had not cleared their dues to CIL. Central government data showed as on April 18, state-owned companies or state electricity boards had dues amounting to ₹7,918.72 crore to the Centrerun CIL, with Maharashtra’s power generation utility owing at least ₹2,608.07 crore.

In response, state energy minister Nitin Raut on Friday said while the money was pending, it could not be termed arrears. “This is part of the rolling payment cycle. MahaGenco [Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited] will pay it soon.” He added, “The Centre has defaulted in paying the goods and services tax dues of Maharashtra. This money rightly belongs to us.”

According to a state energy department statement, ₹1,498.37 crore was paid during the month for coal, and just ₹862.32 crore was due as on April 28. The state also has to pay the railways ₹270 crore for transporting coal between April 1 and 28.

MahaGenco is dealing with a shortage of coal for its thermal power stations. The power generation utility has a 13,902 MW capacity, including 9,750 MW in coal-based thermal power, 2,580 MW in hydro power, 672 MW gas, and 207 MW in solar energy. As bulk of its capacity is in coal-based thermal power, it increases the utility’s dependence on coal to fire its generating stations. MahaGenco needs around 1,38,710 metric tonnes of coal every day to run its generating stations at optimum capacity. MahaGenco gets bulk of its coal supply (60%) from Western Coalfields Limited followed by South Eastern Coalfields Limited, and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited, which are subsidiaries of CIL.

“We make payments regularly to coal companies... The payments are made in a 45-day cycle as laid down in the agreement with them. Penal interest is charged on any late payment,” a MahaGenco official said, adding the spillover was hence natural and could be called arrears.

This is part of the rolling payment cycle. MahaGenco will pay it soon. NITIN RAUT, Energy minister

HT FILE PHOTO Nitin Raut