The Railway Board has asked all its zonal headquarters to collect dues worth Rs 2348 crore from the various state electricity boards and central power companies and clean up the balance sheet.
According to the Railway Board, despite a clear order to ferry coal only on a cash-and-carry basis, zonal headquarters have allowed arrears, which they are now finding difficult to collect, to pile up.
A report prepared by the board said six power entities account for 92 per cent of the arrears.
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These entities are Badarpur Thermal Power Station, Punjab State Electricity Boards, Delhi Vidyut Board, Rajasthan State Electricity Board, Gujarat Electricity Board and the National Thermal Power Corporation.
The Railway Board is concerned that given the slow pace at which the securitisation of SEB dues to the central power companies are moving, unless zones take up the issue on an urgent basis, the huge liabilities could affect their viability.
The report noted that arrears owed to Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway were especially significant.
According to the report, the arrears signify that general managers at the various zones have not been following the 'no credit system' with their clients.
The report added that the problem should be rectified at the earliest. The impending split of SEBs would make the dues even more difficult to realise, it pointed out.
The report noted that while the consumers were the generating companies, the bill for the transportation could be raised by the distribution companies, which could further complicate matters.