CAG raps J&K power dept for pending arrears worth Rs 2,000 cr

Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Department has come in for sharp criticism from the Comptroller and Auditor General for allegedly allowing the arrears on electricity charges to accumulate to whopping Rs 2,000 crore during the last four years.
"Lack of any serious measure for recovery of arrears can be gauged from the fact that the arrears of electricity charges (EC), including electricity duty (ED), accumulated from Rs 1,220.18 crore in April 2011 to Rs 2,092.41 crore at the end of March 2015," the CAG said in its report which was tabled in the state Assembly here.
Of these arrears, it said Rs 1,015 crore pertaining to state government departments (other than corporations and bodies) had been waived by the government pursuant to a cabinet decision (March 2013), thereby leaving Rs 1076.78 crore recoverable as of March 2015.

The report said the actual realisation of revenue was still significantly less than the budget estimates.
"During the period 2010-11 to 2014-15, the shortfall ranged between 19 per cent and 34 per cent," it said.
The report criticised the state Power Development Department (PDD) for its failure to implement the four recommendations contained in the report in 2010 and focused on improving internal controls, demonstrating efficient enforcement for proper realisation of energy charges and electricity duty.

On non-levying of ED on sale of electricity, the report said "five years down the line, neither had any exemption been granted to PDD from payment of electricity duty to the Power Development Corporation nor any ED been charged on sale of power during 2010-15 resulting in loss of Rs 1,194.13 crore.

"The department had also not initiated steps for recovery of ED of Rs 259.13 crore pointed out previously," it said.
On shortfall in electrical inspection and levy of fee, the report said the deficiency had not been addressed during the period 2010-15.
He said the government is also working on opening Letter
of Credit (LoC) with J&K Bank for timely payment of the interest which would also a help save of Rs 150 crore per annum.
"PDD has also finalised a fast-track metering plan for 100 per cent consumer metering in next 18 months including smart metering for high-ended domestic, commercial & industrial consumers which will be rolled out soon with estimated cost of Rs 550 crore. All these measures will reduce the AT&C losses to 15 per cent by FY 2019-20," Singh said.

He said to check power theft special enforcement squads have been constituted at different levels. He said 35,432 inspections have been conducted and Rs 458.56 lakh fine imposed.
The Deputy Chief Minister said Amnesty scheme announced in August 2015 for domestic consumers includes 100 per cent surcharge waiver and it was extended up to December 2016.
Under the scheme, 53,504 consumers availed benefit and an amount of Rs 35.82 crore surcharge was waived off, he said.
The Deputy Chief Minister said in order to strengthen and augment HT/LT network an amount of Rs 87 crore has been released for every constituency.

The Deputy Chief Minister said an amount of Rs 444.50 crore has been sanctioned under integrated power development scheme for 86 towns which are not covered under RAPDRP.
He said the works have been tendered and are proposed to be executed during the financial year 2017-18 and Power Finance Corporation has been designated as Nodal Agency.
The Deputy Chief Minister said under Prime Minister's Development Programme an amount of Rs 1144.59 crore has been sanctioned with an objective of covering the left out works of RAPDRP.
He said an amount of Rs 619.67 crore has been sanctioned for 21 districts under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna (DDUGJY).

Similarly an amount of Rs 2,570.14 crore has been sanctioned under PMDP for strengthening distribution network in rural areas to cover the left out works of DDUGJY.
The Deputy Chief Minister said in order to ensure ex-gratia relief to the departmental and non-departmental employees killed or grievously incapacitated due to electrocution incidents, the government would be granting an ex-gratia relief of Rs three lakh in case of death, Rs one lakh for total disability and Rs 30,000 for partial disability.