Government-run Coal India?s (CIL?s) coal sales arrears add up to R6,327 crore in the first five months of the fiscal. Dues from the power sector accounted for R5,800 crore as of August 31, 2012.

CIL ended FY12 with a net coal sales arrears of R5,616 crore, up 66.49% y-o-y. According to JP Morgan analysts, gross dues from coal sales touched R7,400 crore in FY12, pegging CIL?s bad debt at R1,700 crore.

Eastern Coal Field?s (ECL) dues were highest at R959 crore, which in the first five months of this fiscal grew 34% to R1,286 crore. ECL officials said West Bengal Power Development Corporation (WBPDCL) owed the highest amount to the CIL subsidiary, R500 crore, followed by Damodar Valley Corporation?s (DVC?s) R330 crore, Tamil Nadu State Electricity Board?s (TNEB?s) R143 crore and Durgapur Project?s (DPL?s) R62 crore as on August 31.

Bharat Coking Coal (BCCL), whose net coal sales arrears grew 7% in five months to R662 crore, had dues worth R177.43 crore from WBPDCL, R115.53 core from Panipat Thermal Power Station (PTPS), R9.30 crore from Farakka TPS, R245.50 crore from DVC, R90.61 crore from Unchahar and R24.20 crore from Ropar.

The power sector has been unable to meet the increased cost of fuel. A CIL official pointed out that even profit earning companies like NTPC owed the company R1,200 crore on account of coal purchases. Companies like WBPDCL, which was supplying power at an average of R5 per unit maintaining a margin after actual cost realisation, had also accumulated dues, the official said. In fact, non-recoverable dues or bad debt forced CIL to increase its write off provision, which grew 154% in FY12 y-o-y to R1,469.84 crore. Analysts said this will go up further in FY13 hitting the net cash from operations.

CIL?s net cash from operation grew 128% y-o-y to R19,887 crore in FY12, and could have been higher if the amount owed by power companies ? R5,616 crore ? had been added to its cash from operations. Although CIL?s net profit in FY12 was only 34% less than its cash from operations, at R14,788 crore, interest from CIL?s huge cash reserve contributed significantly to profit.