Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik has directed state energy department officials to recover the Rs 2400 crore dues from Reliance Energy Ltd.

REL-owned three distribution companies in the state — Nesco, Southco and Wesco– owe about Rs 2400 crore to the state-owned Gridco towards the bulk power supply bills accumulated over the last seven years and the penalty there on.

At a high level meeting on Friday, state energy department officials told the chief minister that the three companies have not paid over Rs 1500 crore to Gridco for the last seven years. With deferred payment charges, the total outstanding has added to Rs 2400 crore.

Patnaik told the officials to take immediate steps to recover the dues from REL. He also advised to take legal opinion to deal with the legal hurdles in recovering the amount.