Power development department is among the various government departments besides the army, BSF and CRPF that figure in the list of power tariff defaulters.
Cumulatively, the defaulters owe the PDD Rs 1892 crore up to October 2017, deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh told the Assembly in reply to a question by the MLA Langate Er Rashid.
Rashid had sought month-wise details of the outstanding bills against the government departments and government forces from March 2015 till October 2017.
Singh, who is also the power minister, said various government departments in Jammu region owe Rs 1080.83 cr, while Rs 31.24 cr is outstanding against government forces in the region.
The PDD itself has outstanding liabilities of Rs 7.76 cr in Jammu region only.
In Kashmir, Rs 802 cr was outstanding against various government departments and government forces. In Ladakh, the outstanding amount is Rs 9.68 cr.
The written reply from power minister reveals that an amount of Rs 36.16 cr was outstanding against the army, Rs 3.16 cr against BSF and Rs 15.78 cr against CRPF in Kashmir region. In Ladakh, the army owes Rs 3.57 cr and PHE Rs 2.86 cr.
Nirmal Singh had told the House that the government would look into the issue of providing power to the army.
He made this statement after opposition members censured him for the worsening power situation in the state.
“The government is providing power supply to the army which increases load. Stop giving them power and tell them to arrange their own DG sets,” Congress MLA Nawang Rigzin Jora had said during the ongoing budget session.