Telangana owes over ₹400 crore to EESL

EESL is trying its last bit to sort out the pending dues issue with the Telangana government. Over ₹400 crore is what various facilities in Telangana owe to Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture under Ministry of Power.

Officials in EESL said “outstanding dues in Telangana are ₹467 crore. As a step towards consolidation and reconciliation EESL has requested for meetings with top leadership and stakeholders there,” an official told businessline.

The urban and local bodies of Telangana owe EESL ₹298 crore, while Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) owes ₹144 crore, Gram panchayats have dues of ₹11 crore, dues of Pilot Project of Panchayat Raj is ₹7 crore, and the Secunderabad Cantonment Board owes ₹8 crore, an official said.

Officials in EESL said “The delay in payment is causing financial strain and also putting us in a fix on taking our projects here ahead.”

• Also read: EESL financially stressed as Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation withholds ₹144.48 crore payment

Despite this EESL has been ensuring that operations continue in the State. The whole issue was blown out when GHMC issued a tender for procurement and supply of 15,000 new streetlights at a cost of Rs 3 crore without settling EESL dues, although EESL’s contract is valid till April 2025. The inferences were being made that EESL has failed to meet commitments.

According to sources the new tender had nothing to do with EESL performance but failure of the authorities in clearing the pending dues.EESL has been providing its services under the Energy Service Company (ESCO) model, where it took on the entire upfront investment, expecting monthly repayments from GHMC to cover both capital and operational expenditures.

In fact, EESL has gone beyond its contractual obligations, which only covers manufacturing defects in its operations in the State, the official added.

So far, EESL has installed over 1.723 million streetlights across 140 municipal bodies in Telangana, including GHMC, saving the state an estimated 193 MW of peak power annually and reducing carbon emissions by 0.81 million tonne of CO2.

• Also read: Telangana to add 40,000 MW to its RE capacity by 2035

The official added that EESL’s streetlight contract, covering 74 municipal bodies, will expire in April 2025 and EESL has shown interest for an extension. However, it will depend on timely payments and improved financial arrangements with the state government.