Nhpc To Cut Off Defaulting Sebs

National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has threatened to cut supply to defaulting state electricity boards (SEBs) if they do not start clearing their dues by November. In August, the total outstanding of the SEBs towards NHPC was Rs 1351 crore, with Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi accounting for the major share.

At a press conference, NHPC chairman Yogendra Prasad said the corporation will stop supply by November in case the states fail to pay up.

According to Prasad, Uttar Pradesh has the highest outstanding of Rs 575 crore, followed by Haryana at about Rs 400 crore and Jammu & Kashmir at about Rs 180 crore. Prasad said all attempts to recover dues from Uttar Pradesh had failed as the board does not have funds to meet its liabilities. Citing one such case, he said UPSEB could not honour an amount of Rs 12 crore in August.

The corporation chairman said that the Centre is working out a strategy to recover the outstandings and also meet the current payments from the Central devolution to the states.

NHPC recorded more than a 100 per cent increase in net profit in 1997-98 over the previous fiscal. This was mostly due to an increase in generation from its power stations. Profit during 1997-98 stood at around Rs 300 crore against Rs 106 crore in 1996-97. The corporation's generation sales during 1997-98 increased 14.34 per cent at around 8.8 billion units against around 7.7 billion units in the previous year.

Prasad also said that the corporation plans to add around 1,000 mw of hydel capacity every year for the next 15 years. He said the plan will be finalised after a discussion with the power ministry. Some of the projects that NHPC will be undertaking during the Ninth Plan include the 700 mw Koel Karo and the 300 mw Chamera-II project. The corporation hopes to get approval from the Public Investment Board for the lowest bid of around Rs 1,800 crore.