Power generating companies, especially state-owned units, owe Rs 22,770 crore to Coal India (CIL), Singareni Collieries (SSCL) and NLC India. Of this, CIL owed Rs 12,423 crore as on January. SSCL owed Rs 6,286 crore.
These dues of generating companies (gencos) to coal mining entities rose 16 per cent over the past four years. Among the states, Tamil Nadu and Telangana have the highest share of dues to NLC and SCCL, respectively.
CIL had told Parliament's standing committee on coal and steel that it keeps supply on to defaulters in the national interest. “We supply under a fuel supply agreement