Power discoms in MP to get Rs 7,728 cr

Assembly clears Rs 10k cr second adjunct budget for 14-15 in a daylong session

Madhya Pradesh assembly on Tuesday cleared the proposals of the 2014-15 budget of more than Rs 10,000 crore in a day-long session. The power discoms have been given Rs 7,7 28 crore from the state kitty.

The budget session of MP assembly, which began on February 18, was adjourned sine die abruptly on February 26. It was scheduled to continue till March 27.

The state government also has made provisions of Rs 450 crore as interest subsidy on short-term farm loans obtained by farmers from state-owned cooperative banks. State power discom companies, Finance Minister Jayant Malaiya said told the House, had been given working capital or loans.

The working capital, loan on it and interest on the loan needs to be converted into consistent loan and hence the discom companies need an amount of Rs 7,728.45 crore. State government already made an allocation of Rs 5,471 crore in its annual budget for power sector. The power discom companies, which had proposed to raise tariff recently, said their revenue gap ranges between Rs 1,600 crore and Rs 1,835 crore.

Discom companies had recently proposed 24 per cent hike in power tariff.  The government further made provision of Rs 275 crore against tariff subsidy for MP Power Management Company Limited and power distribution companies.

To provide interim relief to farmers, the finance minister made a provision of Rs 450 crore to provide interest subsidy to farmers on short-term farm loans.