Power, steel companies, SEBs owe Coal India Rs.6,873 crore

New Delhi : Power utilities and steel companies including NTPC and SAIL and some state electricity boards owe Rs.6,873 crore to Coal India Ltd (CIL), Minister of State for Coal Pratik Prakashbabu Patil said Tuesday.

“There is a considerable amount of overdues on various public sector utilities of the Coal India Ltd (CIL) and its subsidiaries,” the minister said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Of Rs.6,873 crore, state-run generator NTPC owes Rs.1,814 crore, followed by the West Bengal Power Development Corp, which owes Rs.1,030 crore. The Damodar Valley Corporation has unpaid bills totalling nearly Rs.732 crore.

“CIL and its subsidiary coal companies are continuously pursuing the matter with the public sector utilities to recover the dues,” Patil said.

“In certain cases, the matter has been taken up with the respective state governments. The issue was also taken up by the Inter-Ministerial Sub Group constituted to monitor supply of coal to various power utilities,” he added.

State miner Coal India, which has been in focus recently owing to fuel shortage issues for power plants, meets more than 80 percent of India’s domestic coal needs.