The Central Transmission Utility of India Limited (CTUIL), an arm of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, has raised the issue of non-payment of dues by Tangedco towards transmission charges.
In its recent letter to the Southern Regional Power Committee (SRPC), under the Central Electricity Authority, it has highlighted outstanding dues by the distribution companies in the Southern region totalling around ₹1,670.61 crore as on July 1, and sought the clearing of dues in time.
It pointed out that Tangedco has outstanding dues of ₹1,203.74 crore, out of which ₹928.03 crore has already crossed 45 days. An amount of ₹219.86 crore is disputed by Tangedco. Of this, ₹28.93 crore pertains to the billing for January 2021, for which Tangedco has moved the Madras High Court. As no stay has been granted as on date, CTUIL sought the release of payment.
It also pointed out that Tangedco had withheld ₹190.93 crore till April 2022 billing towards exemption of long-term access transmission charges for drawing its share of power from Madras Atomic Power Station and NLC’s thermal power stations.
CTUIL requested Tangedco to release the withheld amount and said non-payment leads to impact on performance of all licensees using the inter-state transmission network.
Meanwhile, other Central power generating stations have also highlighted pending dues by distribution companies in the Southern region and also issues relating to letter of credit.
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), which runs the Kundankulam Nuclear Power Project, said as of May 2022, outstanding dues by State Electricity Boards (SEBs) exceeding 60 days was to the tune of ₹2,381.15 crore, of which Tangedco accounted for ₹2,250.20 crore.
It noted that non-receipt of energy dues from SEBs was hampering day to day activities along with working capital management, and it was unable to clear the liabilities in a timely manner. The distribution companies (discoms) have not revised the terms and conditions for letter of credit.
Similarly, NPCIL said Kaiga generating stations had outstanding dues of ₹997.27 crore from discoms, of which ₹492.77 crore is by Tangedco.
NLC Tamil Nadu Power Limited has also flagged the issue of non-revision of letter of credit and non-payment of dues totalling ₹557.42 crore by discoms, of which ₹221.40 crore is by Tangedco.
Tangedco has communicated its liquidation plan to settle the dues, as per the scheme announced by the Centre, but other discoms are yet to communicate their plan.
As per the scheme announced by the Centre, discoms will be given a one-time relaxation wherein the outstanding amount, including the principal and late payment surcharge, will be frozen without further imposition of further surcharge. The discoms are given the flexibility to pay the outstanding amount in up to 48 instalments.
Late payment surcharge is levied on the payment outstanding by a discom to a generating company at the base rate (pegged to SBI’s Marginal Cost of Lending Rate). It is applicable for the period of default at base rate for the first month of default and increases by 0.5% for every successive month of delay, subject to a maximum of 3% over base rate at any time.
Tamil Nadu is expected to save over ₹4,500 crore from the scheme.
However, in case of delay in payment of an instalment by a discom, the late payment surcharge shall be payable on the entire outstanding dues which otherwise is exempted.
