NTPC slaps notices on SEBs

West Bengal has piled up arrears of Rs 995.29 crore over thirteen months and Damodar Valley Corporation Rs 444.5 crore over twenty six months. While negotiations were still on to recover the arrears and prevent discontinuation of power with all the states, the response of the Bihar electricity board was the most unsatisfactory, Singh said.

Referring to Orissa, he said while the arrears had mounted to Rs 492.31 crore there was hope of recovering the dues as the electricity board had given an encouraging response to enhancing the line of credit. Singh said the corporation would be constrained to go ahead with its decision to regulate power to the defaulting SEBs if a satisfactory solution was not found by the month end for either enhancing the LCs or liquidating the arrears.

Singh noted with satisfaction that the previously erring SEBs like Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan had now given a good account of themselves. Most ofthe electricity boards in the south also had either reduced their arrears or cleared them. The NTPC chief regretted that the rate of recoveries of the NTPC had actually slipped from 90 per cent in 1990-91 to 83 per cent in 1998-99. To ensure that NTPC safeguards its interests and keeps its recoveries rates clean to avoid being blacklisted by multilateral lending agencies, Singh said it was now insisting that the electricity boards open a LC which is backed by the state governments.