The government has extended guarantee to the southern and eastern DISCOMs for raising loans of ₹6,600 crore from the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
A government order in this regard was issued by Energy Secretary N. Srikant on Sunday, adding that the loan amounts would to spent on purchasing power.
Liquidity crisis
The G.O. said that the PFC and REC had been mandated by the Central government to lend money as special long- term transition loans to DISCOMs at competitive rates of interest for up to 10 years, keeping in view the liquidity crisis faced by power utilities due to the lockdown.
The DISCOMs need liquidity infusion to clear the liabilities to generating stations and transmission corporations. The power purchase payables of DISCOMs stand at ₹6,673 crore (SPDCL - ₹4,538 crore and EPDCL- ₹2,135 crore), the G.O. said.
