HP power board revenue gap hits Rs 1,074 crore

The ailing Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) has fallen into a deeper fiscal crisis with the revenue gap now at Rs 1,074 crore.

According to the HPSEB’s financial statement tabled in the state Assembly by Chief Minister P K Dhumal, the accumulated losses have touched Rs 264 crore.

Added to this is the short-term borrowings to meet day-to-day expenditure is the running bank overdraft of Rs 650 crore.

The board has to pay the state government another Rs 282 crore as electricity duty from consumers.The irrigation department, however, owes the board Rs 125 crore.

Despite so many liabilities the HPSEB proposes to replace 70,000 old power poles, install 2,092 distribution transformers, procure 1,384 new transformers besides laying 7,903 km long power cables during the current financial year.

The HPSEB was unbundled into three organisations by a notification of the state government in June 2009. But the board continues to function in the old format due to pressure from powerful employee unions.

With over 23,000 employees on its rolls, the HPSEB employs the largest number people among all PSUs in the hill state.The board is considered the most overstaffed power board in the country.