Chhattisgarh govt departments owe Rs 3,117 crore in power bills, assembly told

Raipur, Jul 16 (PTI) The Chhattisgarh government on Thursday informed the legislative assembly that electricity dues of Rs 5,853.86 crore were unpaid in the state as of May, including Rs 3,117.49 crore from various government departments. Non-government consumers owe Rs 2,736.37 crore to Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited (CSPDCL), the government said. In a written reply to a 'call attention' motion moved by Congress MLA Indra Sao, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, who holds the Energy portfolio, said continuous efforts were being made to recover outstanding dues from government departments. "As a result, government departments have paid Rs 249.06 crore towards outstanding electricity bills during 2026-27 up to May 2026," Sai informed the House. Sao alleged in the motion that CSPDCL was failing to recover pending electricity bills from major defaulters and was instead planning to burden the common people with higher power tariffs to offset its losses. Government departments owed nearly Rs 2,900 crore while domestic and other consumers owed Rs 1,700 crore to CSPDCL, he claimed. He also alleged that officials were neglecting bill recovery, and were instead busy promoting the Centre's PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. The Congress legislator further claimed that the Panchayat and Rural Development Department, urban local bodies, Public Health Engineering Department, School Education Department and Home Department among others had substantial outstanding dues. Sao also alleged that influential consumers with dues exceeding Rs 1 lakh owed a total of around Rs 1,300 crore, adding that recovery of dues from government departments and other major defaulters would eliminate the need for any increase in electricity tariffs. In his reply, chief minister Sai said electricity tariffs are determined independently by the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission based on factors such as prevailing price indices, changes in market rates, power purchase costs, regulatory assets, the financial position of the distribution company and public hearings on tariff proposals. Recovery proceedings against non-government consumers were being carried out under the Electricity Supply Code, while the government has also been implementing a pre-paid billing system for electricity connections provided to all government departments to improve payment compliance, he said. Sai denied allegations of negligence by electricity department officials in recovering dues. The PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana aims to reduce household electricity bills by promoting rooftop solar installations, and more than 1.85 lakh consumers have registered under the scheme in Chhattisgarh with nearly 500 new registrations being recorded every day, the chief minister said. Of these registered consumers, rooftop solar systems have already been installed at more than 76,000 households. The Centre has provided financial assistance of Rs 482.56 crore and the state government has contributed Rs 161 crore under the scheme, Sai said. The scheme has reduced electricity bills of thousands of households to zero, while many others have seen significant reductions, Sai said, adding that awareness campaigns regarding rooftop solar installations are carried out by empanelled vendors. He rejected Sao's allegation that the government intended to impose higher electricity charges on the public. Notably, last month, the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission approved an average increase of 6.23 per cent in electricity tariffs across all consumer categories with effect from July 1. The revised tariff includes an increase of 30-50 paise per unit for domestic consumers and 20-40 paise per unit for non-domestic consumers. PTI TKP KRK