GUWAHATI, Oct 17 - The Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd (APDCL) has an outstanding amount of over Rs 1,502.07 crore to pay the power generators and power grid operators as power cost and wheeling charge, as on September 30, 2015. It is anticipated that there may be another additional amount of around Rs 600 crore accumulated as outstanding dues of the power utility against its power purchase liability.
According to official sources, the APDCL has to pay the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) an amount of Rs 408.83 crore and it is to pay another amount of Rs 185.67 crore to the Assam Power Generation Corporation Ltd (APGCL). The power utility is also to pay the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) Rs 265 crore respectively for additional power and wheeling charge.
The State sector power utility has to pay Rs 642.57 crore as wheeling charge to the Assam Electricity Grid Corporation Ltd (AEGCL) till the above date.
Sources said efforts are on to clear the outstanding amounts against the power purchased from the APGCL and the NEEPCO with the support from the Government under the Ujjwal Distribution Companies (Discom) Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme. The UDAY scheme is aimed at bringing ailing power distribution companies to a state of operational efficiency, with state governments taking over up to 75 per cent of their respective discoms� debt and issuing sovereign bonds to pay back the lenders.
The debts of the APDCL could be paid under the UDAY scheme because the tariff rates fixed and approved by the Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC) respectively for the APGCL and the NEEPCO could not be paid to these generating companies, by the APDCL due to its poor operational performance.
Again, to clear the outstanding amounts of the NTPC and the PGCIL, a proposal has been sent to the State Government for recovering the amounts from the consumers by levying a Fuel and Power Purchase Price Adjustment (FPPPA) charge at the rate of 59 paisa per unit. If the State Government subsidises the APDCL to pay the Rs 265 crore to the NTPC and the PGCIL, then it would not go for levying the FPPPA charge on the consumers, sources said.
