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Bhubaneswar, August 19: National Aluminium Company (Nalco) has ignored repeated reminders from the state government to clear its water dues of Rs 461 crore.
Sources in the water resources (WR) department said the outstanding dues pending against the public sector undertaking’s Angul plant stood at Rs 377.606 crore while the mining and refinery division at Damanjodi in Koraput district has dues running into Rs 83.887 crore as of July 31.
“The arrears have not been deposited by Nalco despite several reminders. Concerned officers may be instructed to deposit the arrear amounts pending against the two units immediately failing which action deemed proper will be taken as per Orissa Irrigation Act, 1959 and Orissa Irrigation (Amendment) Rules, 2010,” WR special secretary SK Pattnayak wrote to Nalco CMD TK Chand.
The department sent its last notice to Nalco July 21. At that time too, the department had threatened to stop water supply to these units. However, the PSU chose to ignore the notice. Prior to that, field level officers of the department like executive engineers had asked the company to deposit the water cess.
“The company is not depositing the water cess due to some dispute regarding the charges framed by the government. Nalco has moved court, and the government has also followed suit,” a senior official of the department said. “This time, we have drawn the attention of the CMD. If the company does not respond to the current notice, we will take up the issue at the highest level,” the official said.
Nalco had a few weeks back deposited Rs 872 crore by way of electricity duty (ED) arrears while the arrears calculated by the government stood at Rs 1,156.32 crore. The department hopes to claim the remaining arrears through an out-of-court settlement, sources said.
Apart from Nalco, huge arrears were pending against other companies including Mahanadi Coalfields Limited, National Thermal Power Corporation, Indian Railways and Indian Metals and Ferrous Alloys (IMFA).
In the current financial year (2015-16), the state government has fixed a target of collecting Rs 2,650 crore towards tax and arrears. The WR department has been asked to monitor collection of dues on a monthly basis.