Power firms repay Rs 26,648 cr

Money paid as interests on loans, guarantee fee and dividend from 2001-02 till 2005-06.

Power majors like NTPC Ltd, PowerGrid Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation have paid back a whopping Rs 26,648.31 crore to the exchequer since 2001.

The money was paid as loan repayment, guarantee fee and dividend from 2001-02 till 2005-06. This is over 130 per cent more than the gross budgetary support (GBS) of Rs 11,547 crore received by these companies during the period.

"During the period, power PSUs returned a total of Rs 26,648.31 crore to the government through interest payments on loans, repayment of loans, guarantee fees and dividend. During the same period, they availed of gross budgetary support of Rs 11,547 crore," Power Secretary RV Shahi told Business Standard.

The highest returns, Rs 7,412.37 crore, were in 2002-03, compared with the budgetary support of Rs 1,830 crore for the same period. The returns in 2005-06 dipped to Rs 3,387.09 crore compared with the support of Rs 2,691 crore.

Shahi said plans were afoot to further reduce dependence on budgetary support, given that the companies were going public to raise funds.

Of the total amount paid back, repayment of loans and interest payments amounted to Rs 16,519.06 crore during the five-year period. Dividend payments came second, with Rs 10,080.04 crore. Guarantee fees contributed Rs 49.21 crore.