Railways crack whip on defaulters

The Indian Railways is going on an offensive to recover more than Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) owed to it by various state electricity boards.

The ministry plans to move the high court against the Punjab Electricity Board to recover dues amounting to Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion).

It was in also talks with the Delhi Vidyut Board for securitisation, whereby the DVB would float bonds in lieu of the Rs 184 crore (Rs 1.84 billion) owed by it, a railway ministry official said.

The Railways is trying to put in place a mechanism for electronic transfer of funds from the Badarpur Thermal Power Station by the end of this year.

The 'electronic payment gateway' envisioned a system wherein the power plant would be informed of the freight payable at the destination station and funds would directly be credited to the Railway account. The scheme was announced in the Budget for 2004-05.

An official said the Badarpur power plant would release Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) as soon as the electronic funds transfer mechanism was put in place. The power plant paid up Rs 110 crore (Rs 1.1 billion) in March this year.

The official said though the plant had submitted a proposal to repay the remaining Rs 765 crore (Rs 7.65 billion) over four years, the Railways expected the entire amount be paid by the end of the next fiscal. The power plant accounts for more than half of the total suspense of the electricity boards.

The legal wrangle with the Punjab Electricity Board relates to a dispute over an advance payment scheme proposed by the Railways, which was contested by the Punjab electricity board in a district court.

The court appointed an arbitrator to resolve the issue, who decided against the Railways. The ministry has now decided to appeal to the high court.

Ministry officials said the dues of the other state electricity boards amounted to less than Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion).