Rs 90,000 cr relief for DISCOMs will improve viability of sector: Union Power Minister
May 14, 2020
New Delhi [India], May 14 : Union Power Minister RK Singh on Wednesday said that the government's announcement of Rs. 90,000 crore liquidity injection for DISCOMs will improve the viability of the power sector.
"It is a big relief for the power sector. The revenues of DISCOMs were plummeting during the lockdown. This sector was negatively affected due to lockdown as demand was down. The government has announced Rs. 90,000 crore liquidity injection for DISCOMs. This will improve the viability of the power sector," Singh told ANI.
"This package will enable the power distribution companies to pay to the power generation companies for the outstanding dues. The generation companies then can pay for coal and railways for transportation of coals. The government has also decided to waive off the fixed charges and interstate transmission charges (by power grid) against the power not drawn from power generating PSUs like NTPC, others," he added.
The Minister said that the Central power generation companies shall give a rebate to DISCOMs which shall be passed on to the final consumers and industries. "This will help everyone. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for this package," he added.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had on Wednesday announced an amount of Rs 90,000 crore for DISCOMs.
During his address to the nation on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a stimulus package totalling Rs 20 lakh crore to rescue the economy reeling under the impact of coronavirus. This amounts to nearly 10 per cent of India's GDP.
