Private company shocks KSEB by handing over a bill of Rs 6.3 crore

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), which usually scares customers by showing huge bills, has received a bill of Rs 6.3 crore from a private company. Indus Hydro Power and Manganese Limited, a private hydroelectric unit in Idukki, has lodged a complaint with the State Regulatory Commission against KSEB for non-payment for purchased electricity.
Meanwhile, KSEB said that though electricity was purchased from the company, the amount mentioned in the bill was too high. In 1990, the government had sanctioned a hydropower project at Koothungal in Idukki for the private company to generate electricity for their own use.

Upon generating electricity, the remaining power after use in the factory was supplied to KSEB. KSEB has a power purchase agreement with Indus Power Unit since 1994. The price was also fixed by KSEB-Rs 5.50 per unit. The current practice was to settle this by calculating the bill for one year in the month of July. However, the company did not function from March, 2020 to
June, 2020 due to the nationwide lockdown. With this, all the power generated was given to KSEB. It is estimated that a total of 116,29,665 units of electricity were purchased by KSEB during this period. The company handed over a bill of Rs 6.3 crore for this.

In December, the company lodged a complaint with the Regulatory Commission against KSEB for non-payment. The strange explanation given by KSEB was that they did not know that so much electricity came to their grid. According to KSEB, since the power consumption was low in the state due to the lockdown, it would have blocked the large amount of electricity reaching its power grid if it had known that so much power was reaching the grid. On March 5, the Regulatory Commission ordered KSEB to produce any evidence other than this. If there is no other reason, KSEB will have to pay this amount. Consumers are now wondering whether the state will pay the surcharge bill to domestic consumers due to this bill.