State’s power subsidy bill shoots up to Rs 7,943 crore

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 25

The state’s power subsidy bill has swelled to a whopping Rs7,943.07 crore, for the just-concluded financial year.

Thanks to the largesse by the previous Akali-BJP government to appease its vote banks, power subsidy has become a virtual albatross round the government’s neck.

By March-end, the state has been able to clear just Rs5,600 crore while Rs2,342.37 crore still stands as dues to PSPCL.

The subsidy to the agriculture sector is Rs5,196.77 crore; subsidy to SCs is Rs1,089.06 crore, subsidy to BPL families is Rs77.96 crore, to dairy, pig, fish farmers is Rs70 lakh, thus, taking the original power subsidy bill to Rs6,364.49 crore.

However, the power subsidy from the previous year — 2015-16 to the tune of Rs1,233.61 crore — was carried forward in 2016-17; and the state subsidised power to backward classes and small power consumers which raised the subsidy bill by another Rs345 crore. Against this, the government was able to pay just Rs5,600.70 crore. This too was possible after the Power Department went on a dues collecting exercise. The drive helped the PSPCL earn Rs400 crore in March.

The huge unpaid bill has forced a former PSPCL engineer Padamjit Singh to file an appeal before the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Authority (PSERC), invoking Section 65 of the Electricity Act, 2003, that clearly states that in case the advance subsidy is not received, the power regulator can apply the full unsubsidised tariff.

In his petition, the former engineer has demanded that the dues of Rs2,342.37 crore be paid upfront by the state before the subsidy for the next year is decided.

Power Minister Rana Gurjit Singh told The Tribune the government was committed to giving power at subsidised rates to those who were already getting subsidy. “There are other ways to cut losses. Transmission and distribution losses will be brought down and we will buy cheaper power from whosoever among the 35 private producers offers the cheapest rates.”