NEW DELHI, Dec 19 — The Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) owes a whopping Rs 993.73 crore to the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) even as the power company’s outstanding dues have touched an all-time high of Rs 1,474.92 crore. Even as the tussle among the State electricity boards and NEEPCO for payment of dues continues, interest on oustanding has been piling. Assam for instance owes Rs 795.63 crore as on November but its interest component has touched Rs 198.10 crore. The interest on outstanding dues of all the seven States has been estimated at Rs 259.52 crore.
Assam, meanwhile, has emerged as the biggest defaulter followed by Manipur, which owes Rs 188.85 crore to NEEPCO. The outstanding of other States are Arunachal Pradesh (Rs 27.40 crore), Meghalaya (Rs 26.11 crore), Mizoram (Rs 61.89 crore), Nagaland (Rs 80.51 crore) and Tripura (Rs 96.43 crore). In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Power, Jayawanti Mehta said that three north-eastern States of Assam, Sikkim and Nagaland have signed the tripartite agreement with Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of India, while state governments of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura have been advised by power ministry to sign the agreement to participate in the one-time settlement of outstanding dues scheme.
The benefits for the States which have signed the tripartite agreement included waiver of 60 per cent of the interest on delayed payment as on September 2001, securitisation of remaining 40 per cent of the interest and the full principal amount through 8.5 per cent per annum tax-free bond to be issued by the State. The States were also given an incentive of the 19 per cent nominal value of bonds dues for the States that comply with the provision of the scheme without committing any default during a block of six years 2002-2006. Assistance from ARDRP funds and allocation from the discretionary quota of power from central power generating stations, among other conditions.
Meanwhile, in a bid to resolve the impasse over the Tipaimukh hydro project the power minister has proposed to transfer the liability of security expenditure and surface connectivity to the respective Central ministries.