Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The state government cannot stop for a long time the amount of subsidy to be given to the electricity companies.
The Central Government has taken a tough stand in this regard for reforming electricity supply. The state government gives subsidy on power to the farmers and the poor through the electricity companies.
The government gives the amount of subsidy to the energy department which, in turn, sends the amount to electricity firms.
The power companies give subsidy to the consumers, but the government takes a lot of time to make the payment. For this reason, the companies are incurring losses.
The Central Government has clearly told the state government that if the state government fails to give subsidy to the power companies on time, the Centre may stop its contribution.
Apart from that, 0.5% additional debt that the state government gets from the Central may also be stopped. This was the reason that the state government made a provision for Rs 6, 658 crore in the supplementary budget and paid the entire amount to the power firms.
Besides, the government recovered the outstanding payment from the big defaulters and made payment to the power companies. The Urban Development Department and Panchayat and Rural Development Department owed Rs 700 crore to the electricity companies.
According to sources, all government departments have footed electricity bills this time. Principal Secretary (energy) Sanjay Dubey said that Central Government had advised the state against stopping payment to the power companies.
So, the Energy Department made payment to the power firms, and the impact of non-payment to the electricity companies is known to the finance department, he said.
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