CHANDIGARH : Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd.(PSPCL) has been granted a loan of Rs. 9641 crores for the installation of smart meters and strengthening of infrastructure for loss reduction in a time bound manner under revamped distribution sector scheme(RDSS) of power ministry by Power Finance Corporation (PFC).
The project cost of smart metering works is Rs.5768 crores with a grant of Rs.875 crores from central government. An additional incentive of Rs.85 crores will be given on completion of project in defined time period. The project cost for strengthening the infrastructure for loss reduction is Rs. 3837 crores with grant of Rs.3199 crores.
This loan, however, comes with a rider that state department must clear arrears of subsidy amounting to Rs.9020 crores along with pending electricity dues from government departments of Rs. 2548 crores to PSPCL . The government has agreed to clear these dues by financial year 2025.In case these dues are not paid as per agreed schedule , PSPCL will not be able to qualify for grant under the scheme. In case of installation of prepaid meters the government will bear the cost initially, but it will be extracted from consumers over five years.
Further as per PSPCL website , the state government is yet to pay a subsidy of Rs.4870 crores for the period up to January15 this year. The total subsidy due including arrears of previous years on January 15 is Rs.20587 crores. The subsidy for the current financial year id Rs.24865 crores including Rs.9020 crores of pending arrears.