NEW DELHI: With its latest concession to supporters of AAP's Bijli-Paani Andolan, the government has only mired itself deeper in subsidies. A number of payments are lined up for the coming days. By Saturday, it has to pay Tata Power Delhi Rs 110 crore in subsidy dues. The discom has clearly warned the government that if the overdue amount is not paid, it will not only discontinue the subsidy benefit to consumers but also start recovering its dues in future bills. The AAP government, which announced a 50% subsidy on bills just days after taking office, cannot afford this embarrassment.

Subsidy amounts are also due to the Reliance discoms, BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna . The government owes BSES Rajdhani Rs 37 crore for the October-December quarter, and Rs 25 crore to BSES Yamuna. For the increased subsidy from this quarter, the BSES discoms have to be paid Rs 228 crore.

While the government had planned to adjust the subsidy amount against the Rs 4,000 crore the BSES discoms owe Transco, IPGCL and PPCL, both companies have demanded a payment as they need to pay power supplier NTPC Rs 50 crore by next week under a Supreme Court order. The government finds itself in a spot as it does not want to be accused of precipitating blackouts by forcing the BSES companies to default on their payment.

Amid this uncertainty, Congress, which has propped up the AAP government, alleged on Wednesday that the chief minister lied to the people of Delhi about the power subsidy burden. Citing the agenda for the assembly session issued by the Vidhan Sabha secretariat, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Arvinder Singh said, "The government of the day is going to introduce the Delhi Appropriation (No.1) Bill 2014 in the assembly wherein Rs 372 crore has been sought from the Consolidated Fund of Delhi to deliver certain services for the financial year 2013-14. As per the Bill, the money is being taken from funds allocated to the departments of urban development and public works. In the garb of the Bill, the government is diverting funds meant for development works to pay off the power subsidy".

The DPCC chief along with the leader of Congress Legislature Party, Haroon Yusuf, recalled the CM's claim that the increase in power subsidy would add only Rs 200 crore to the government's burden. "So why are they now bringing this appropriation Bill? This is nothing but a subsidy Bill and clearly shows that the burden for giving the subsidy is not Rs 200 crore but over Rs 300 crore," Singh alleged.