At a press conference here on Wednesday night, state energy minister Ravindra Charan Yadav, said that the total outstanding dues from private consumers, state governments and the central government has gone up to Rs 2800 crore (Rs 1310 crore from private consumers, Rs 1115 crore from state governments and Rs 375 crore from the central government).

When he was asked whether the power connections of the state and central government institutions would be disconnected, the minister replied that through negotiations the dues would be collected from the government consumers.

In the presence of senior BSEB officials, the minister remarked that BSEB had become a "rusty organisation" and its "cancer needs to be operated with iron hands."

He said that 1807 court cases were pending in different courts in Bihar involving dues of nearly Rs 33 crore againstBSEB. He also said that among the big industries in Bihar, Usha Martin Industries had gone to court against the billing of Rs 4 crore by the BSEB. Yadav said that the BSEB had failed to stop the massive power thefts. He warned that the concerned metre readers and engineers of the area would be suspended if such thefts were reported henceforth.