While power generation units with combined capacity of 40 gigawatts (GW) are stressed and the sector is still grappling with the fall-out of several years of muted demand growth, state-run discoms’ dues to the power producers continue to rise.
According to data available with the power ministry’s ‘praapti’ portal, the discoms’ dues to 17 generators stood at `41,707 crore at February 2019-end, up a fifth from the level a year ago and 15% higher than at the end of August 2018. Of these dues, over half — `23,879 crore to be precise — are termed “over-dues” due to payment default of 60 days or more. The dues include those to independent power producers (about 57% of the total) and state-run utilities like NTPC, DVC and NHPC.
