12 states, J&K debarred from power trading over non-payment of dues

Firms cumulatively owe Rs 5,000 crore to gencos; Telangana has the highest amount of Rs 1,380 crore

Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO), the national grid operator under the power ministry, has debarred 12 states and a Union Territory (UT) from buying/selling electricity at the spot market as a penalty for not clearing their dues to generators. Among them are power distribution companies (discoms) in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Manipur, and Mizoram.

The defaulting discoms cumulatively owe Rs 5,000 crore to gencos, the highest being in Telangana with Rs 1,380 crore.

This is the first time the grid operator has invoked the Electricity (Late Payment Surcharge and Related