Karnataka government departments owe Escoms ₹10,342.13 cr., leaving them short of over ₹4,200 cr. to pay power generators
The government offices in Karnataka are 10,342.13 Crore, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BASCOM) and 5.221.16 Crore alone.
As of July 31, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Department, Urban Development Department (UDD) and the Great irrigation department contribute to approximately 93% of the total debts.
The biggest default
In particular, RDPR is the largest default that constitutes approximately 54% of 5.588.33 Crore or total dues. The UDD follows 2,434.91 Crore and owes the large irrigation department 1,570.06 CRORE.
In addition to Bescom, which serves the Bengaluru and nearby areas and has the biggest share of unpaid invoices, other escoms have smaller exposures – Hubli Electricity Supply Company Limited (HESCOM), Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company Limited (Gescom) ₹ 1.710.81 Crore, Chamundesh CESC) ₹ 937.70 CRORE, Mangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (Mescom) 614.75 Crore and Hukkeri Dues 24.18 Crore.
How did he accumulate
When the balances are more closely at the department level, it explains how the debts accumulate.
For RDPR, the unpaid balance was 4,795.63 Crore at the beginning of April this year. Between April and July, the department received 966.84 Crore new electricity bills, but 5,588.32 Crore made only 174.15 Crore payments, leaving the closing balance. The UDD owed 2,271,51 Crore at the beginning of April. After 962.04 Crore was upgraded and 798.65 Crore was collected, closing debts remained in 2,434,91 Crore. The large irrigation department also added to the obligations, 1,352.72 Crube opening balance, 281.11 CRORE new invoices were produced, 63.78 Crore payments were made and 1,570.04 CRORE was not paid.
Other departments have smaller extraordinary dues. Trade and Industry La ₹ 339.60 Crore, Small irrigation La 143.74 Crore, roads, buildings and slum development ₹ 102.59 Crore and other government offices together ₹ 162.90 Crore.
From the perspective of Escom, the exposure of Bescom (the amount of money under which Escom is at risk of not taking) is RDPR and UDD, which constitutes more than 90% of its total dues. Hescom is largely owed by large irrigation and RDPR, Gescom’s dues are mostly from RDPR, Cesc and Mescom RDPR and smaller but significant concentrations in trade and sector.
Prepayment
Growing debts also create an important rule to prevent this situation– According to the former Consulting Member MG Prabhakar, Kerc, Karc, Karcakaka Electrical Regulatory Commission (the form of subsidies by the state government), in 2008, energy companies should provide subsidies to certain groups such as farmers, rural households or government programs.
“The rule clearly says that the subsidies should be explained for each quarter of the financial year. However, these payments are often delayed. When there is no time for subsidies or invoice payments from government offices, electric companies are separated from funds. This contributes to the financial challenge of the regulation to provide a stable money flow,” he said.
Companies that produce power
According to the latest data obtained from the Praapti portal of the Union government, Karnataka’s electricity supply companies as of October 4 owe 4,239.08 CRORE to companies that produce power that 2,122.04 CRORE is delayed. Experts believe that delays in payments made from government offices have a fluctuation effect by leaving Escoms in cash to solve their own dues time.
However, Bescom officials were not available for comment.
Published – 05 October 2025 23:31 IST
