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NEW DELHI, MARCH 23.In a major power sector reform initiative, the Centre tonight made it mandatory for States to clear their long-pending electricity dues of Rs. 36,000 crores to the Central power companies or issue bonds as one-time settlement. It was also decided at the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister, that failure to clear the dues or issue bonds would invite punitive steps such as snapping of power supply to defaulting States by the power companies, including the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), highly placed sources said. The decision follows wide-ranging parleys held by the Union Power Minister, Suresh Prabhu, with almost every State for building a consensus. As per the decision, the State Electricity Boards (SEBs) would get electricity only after clearing the dues, failing which the Centre would deduct from funds meant for the States. The CCEA decided to recover the dues up to September, 2001 instead of February, 2001, as suggested by the Group of Ministers on the basis of Montek Singh Ahluwalia Committee recommendations. The decision was an outcome of the pressure by the Power and Coal Ministries for clearing the outstanding with the SEBs that is threatening to severely impact the liquidity of State-owned undertakings of PSUs, sources said. With this, the NTPC would emerge as the largest beneficiary and would help the Government make significant progress towards power capacity during the Tenth Plan. As many as eight States, including Andhra Pradesh, have either consented or signed tripartite agreement for clearance of dues of the SEBs. _ PTI
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