Nalco,Sail agree to go for out-of-court settlement of ED issue

Two major central public sector undertakings, Nalco and Sail, today agreed to go for an out-of-court settlement on outstanding electricity and water dues to the Odisha government, official sources said.
The issue was raised at a meeting attended among others by Union steel secretary A K Pujari and Union mines secretary G Mohan Kumar, Chief Secretary J K Mohapatra told reporters.
It was decided to constitute a joint committee comprising Principal Secretary Water Resource, Principal Secretary Energy, authorities of SAIL, NALCO and other concerned departments to look into different aspects and work out solutions," an official said.
"Both the Union secretaries accepted a proposal of an amicable settlement of the dispute with Nalco and Sail," Mohapatra said.

The Electricity Duty dues of Nalco and RSP are pegged at Rs 1,095.07 crore and Rs 61.25 crore respectively. Both the PSUs had gone to the court contesting the claim.
While Nalco moved the Supreme Court, RSP's case is pending in the Odisha High Court.

Apart from these two central PSUs, there are also other defaulters who have gone to the court against the state's ED claims putting a question mark on the collection of combined dues of Rs 1,303.51 crore which is now locked up in litigations.
Nalco chairman-cum-managing director Ansuman Das, who also attended the meeting, said: "Separate committees will be set up for expeditious disposal of pending issues."

Nalco's pending water dues amounts to Rs 300 crore. The committee will be mandated to resolve the issue within two months, he said.
Mohapatra said that the proposed committee would also take up other pending issues like environment and forest clearance for mining projects.