Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has exempted electricity dues amounting to Rs 4,097.67 crore for 14 industries under various schemes during the last 10 years, Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo told the Assembly Wednesday.
In a written reply to a question from senior Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati, the Deputy CM, who is in charge of the Energy Department, said the electricity duty for these 14 industries was exempted since the financial year 2015-16 under schemes such as the Industrial Policy Resolution (IPR) and the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Policy.
According to the statement submitted by Singh Deo, the Odisha government exempted the highest electricity dues of Rs 3599.88 crore for Vedanta Ltd, Jharsuguda, under the SEZ Policy-2015, while the central PSU, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), Paradip, received an exemption of Rs 314.03 crore. Additionally, Angul-based Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) was granted a waiver of Rs 103.16 crore in electricity duty.
Apart from these exemptions, the Deputy CM further informed the House that the state government has also exempted electricity dues (through rebate on interest for pending bills) amounting to Rs 1324.83 crore for 36 industries under the One-Time Settlement Scheme, 2022 of the energy department.
Under this scheme, the government waived electricity dues of Rs 550.12 crore for Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), a unit of SAIL, Rs 440.12 crore for IMFA Ltd, Choudwar, and Rs 203.91 crore for the central PSU National Aluminium Company (Nalco), the Deputy CM said.
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Among others, the power bills of JSPL, Angul (Rs 35.76 crore), Aditya Aluminium Ltd, Sambalpur (Rs 17.79 crore), Tata Steel Ltd, Kalinganagar (Rs 16 crore), and Vedanta Ltd, Lanjigarh (Rs 10.13 crore) were also exempted by the Odisha government, he informed.
According to data provided by the engineer-in-chief-cum-principal chief electrical inspector, power dues worth Rs 1096.32 crore were pending against 23 industries as of October this year, Singh Deo added.
The largest outstanding amount of Rs 285.02 crore is pending from Jindal India Thermal Power Ltd, Talcher in Angul district, followed by Visa Steel Ltd, Jajpur, which has not paid Rs 246 crore in electricity dues, he stated.
Similarly, Dhenkanal-based GMR Kamalanga Energy Ltd, Maithan Ispat Nigam Ltd, Jajpur, and Shyam Metalics & Energy Ltd, Sambalpur have not paid power bills of Rs 179.35 crore, Rs 85.31 crore, and Rs 83.25 crore, respectively.
Other industries with pending electricity dues include Oswal Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd, Paradip (Rs 79.95 crore), AMNS, Paradip (Rs 56 crore), Bhaskar Steel & Ferro Alloys, Sundargarh (Rs 23.67 crore), and Yazdani Steel & Power Ltd, Jajpur (Rs 13.68 crore).
PTI
