Not enough funds to pay for NTPC arrears, coal: UP energy minister Shrikant Sharma

LUCKNOW: UP energy minister Shrikant Sharma on Wednesday said that the

UP Power Corporation Limited

(UPPCL) did not have enough funds to pay for the coal which is being wheeled to the thermal power plants for generation of electricity.

The minister further said that the electricity behemoth was also not in a financial position to clear the arrears for the power it has purchased from the

NTPC

.

Sharma made the statement while appealing to the power employees to end their agitation in the wake of festive season. The junior engineers of the UPPCL have been up in arms demanding removal of anomalies in their salary structure. The agitation turned further aggressive after a senior official in the finance department questioned the higher wages being given to the power employee.

Sharma

said that the employee should speak to the authorities to get their grudges addressed, instead of taking an agitation course.

The revelation comes at a time when a looming coal shortage threatens to disrupt the power supply even as the Centre and the state government attempt to step up efforts to stem the crisis. Sources in UPPCL said that a host of state-owned power plants were facing a severe coal shortage as a result their operations were not carried out in full load conditions. Till the time of filing this report, UP’s own power generation was to the tune of 1837 Mw. As against a coal requirement of 15500 MT in Parichha power plant having a total install capacity of 1140 Mw, the power plant was receiving 5400 MT. Likewise, 610 Mw Harduaganj required 9000 MT, against which a supply of 3800 MT was made.

Only two days ago, CM Yogi Adityanath asked the UPPCL to ensure uninterrupted power supply between 6 pm and 7 am in view of the festival of Navratri, Durga Pooja and Dussehra. He had also asked the power officials to coordinate with the Centre and Coal India Limited to resolve the crisis.

Sharma said that the state government had the responsibility to provide power to the different areas as per schedule. He maintained that a regular power supply had to be ensured despite the financial burden which has come to stare at UPPCL. The minister said that the various distribution companies had incurred heavy losses in the aftermath of the epidemic when economic activities stalled.

“The debts of the corporation have been increasing over a period of time,” he said, reiterating that the corporation was having accumulated losses mounting to over Rs 90,000 crore.

The minister said that the corporation was also constrained in paying salaries to the employee on time, given the poor power situation. “The employee must rethink their decision of staging agitation seeking wage revision,” he said, urging the employee to call off their stir and contribute towards providing a smooth power supply to the people.


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