Half of CIL's dues are from 4 state-run power companies

KOLKATA: About 50% of Coal India’s receivables from power companies, estimated at Rs 9,000 crore, are from four stateowned companies, its executives said.
“Total receivables from NTPC, Damodar Valley Corporation, Mahagenco and West Bengal Power Development Corporation is around Rs 4,500 crore,” a senior executive of state-run Coal India told ET. “Of this, NTPC owes us Rs 3,500 crore, which is a shade over one third of the total dues.”

A senior executive of NTPC whom ET spoke with said, “Outstanding as a result of mismatch in actual quality of coal delivered and the quality on which billing has been done is around Rs 1,400 crore. Another Rs 1,600 crore are old dues, which also relate to quality mismatch. However, since there has always been a mismatch in quality claimed to be delivered and actual quality delivered, certain amount always remains outstanding, which gets settled only when both parties agrees to the final outcome. It takes times.”

Damodar Valley Corporation, Mahagenco and West Bengal Power Development Corporation together owe Coal India about Rs 1,000 crore, a Coal India executive said. In the case of Damodar Valley Corporation, which sells bulk of its power to states like Bihar and Jharkhand, payments from these two states are irregular, leading to large dues. It affects the power company’s ability to settle the outstanding with Coal India, though the company is in regular touch with these states for settling dues.

Coal India’s dues from power companies had touched Rs 12,300 crore in February 2018, which has declined to about Rs 9,000 crore in May following regular follow up by the executives.