TG Transco urges Irrigation department to clear dues of ₹33,650 crore

The Irrigation department has huge outstanding dues of ₹33,653 crore till February-end this year to three power utilities in the form of energy charges payable to the two distribution companies (Discoms), operation and maintenance charges payable to TG-Transco and towards capital works payable to the transmission utility for completed and ongoing works.

According to the authorities of the Transmission Corporation of Telangana Ltd (TG-Transco), the energy charges payable to the Discoms by the Irrigation department for drawing power to operate lifting irrigation schemes/projects and other needs of the department are standing at ₹27,027 crore. The dues pertain to the period between April 1, 2021 to February 28, 2026.

The total dues also include ₹1,745 crore operation and maintenance charges and ₹4,881 crore towards completed and ongoing capital works, both to the Transco.

In a recent letter addressed to the Engineer-in-Chief (General) of the Irrigation department, the Chief Engineer (LI Schemes) of TG-Transco brought to the former’s notice that since the dues are very high at least ₹500 crore be released immediately, in addition for bills amounting to ₹813.37 crore and for which tokens were already generated are pending clearance/release by the Finance department.

Release of such small portions of the total dues are necessary to enable continued support and partial easing the financial stress being faced by the power utilities, the CE said. He reminded the issue of due to the notice of the ENC in his letter following a request made by CE (Irrigation) Warangal earlier this months seeking continuous power supply for operation of two pumps (62 MW capacity together) of the Devannapeta pump-house of Devadula Lift Irrigation Scheme 24×7.

Further, the Transco CE stated that the power utilities have stressed the need for operation of the LI schemes’ pumping stations predominantly during the day-time in view of the availability of lower-cost solar power since the supply during peak night and early morning hours would come at significantly higher cost.

Such an arrangement, planning of LI pumping stations’ operation during daytime, would help the power utilities to minimise reliance on peak-hour high-cost procurement and supply of energy. The Transco has requested the Irrigation department to re-examine the requirement of energy supply during daytime and plan it for night hours operations to reduce the stress on the system as also the financial burden.

Accumulation of huge outstanding dues is also impacting the financial position and operational sustainability of TG-Transco severely. The Transco CE requested the Irrigation department to communicate a revised schedule for the operation of Devannapeta pumping station for maximising day-time energy utilisation and minimising financial burden.