More than a million homes in parts of the capital face upto 10 hours of outages daily from Saturday as a private distribution company (discom) has warned it had no funds to two pay state-run generation units for power supplies.
Discom BSES Yamuna (BYPL) has written to the Delhi government that it is unable to make payments to power generation companies NTPC and NHPC owing to its "precarious cash flow situation".
"We request the government to ensure that NTPC/NHPC continue to supply power, without any disruption or regulation, by extending at least 90-days credit to the company," BYPL said.
Noting that it owes NTPC and NHPC Rs.204 crore, BYPL said the two companies have indicated they will regulate power to the discom, resulting in the reduction of over 500 MW power supply from February.
BYPL's lack of resources means NTPC will encash the last remaining letter of credit of Rs.84 crore and the balance Rs.120 crore will remain unpaid to NTPC and NHPC.
Along with a request for extension of its credit period for payments by 90 days, BYPL has also requested the finance ministry to ask financial institutions to offer funds against its assets of over Rs.6,200 crore.
BYPL distributes power to the central and eastern parts of Delhi. BYPL, BSES Rajdhani (BRPL) and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (TPDDL) distribute electricity to nearly 5 million homes in other parts of the state.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Friday warned the capital's discoms to co-operate with the government, else their licences will be cancelled.
The companies are resisting Kejriwal's move to get their accounts audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
"Once the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) audit report is out, the power companies have to co-operate in the examination of their accounts," Kejriwal told the media.
"If they do not, then the government will not keep quiet. If needed, we will also cancel their licences," he added.
