Cuttack, Aug. 24: The state government today stated in Orissa High Court that Rs 1,331 crore of electricity duty had been pending with four power distribution companies and 42 industries.

The four power distribution companies and eight industries are the “major defaulters of electricity duty” with arrears against them mounting to Rs 1,276 crore, the state’s principal chief electrical inspector Suryanarayan Mishra said in an affidavit.

The high court was adjudicating on a PIL along with other petitions challenging the enhanced power tariff announced by the Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) for 2011-12.

Earlier, the state government had been directed to file an affidavit giving details on the defaulters in payment of electricity duty, the total default amount that had remained to be recovered, the steps taken thereof and who were the major defaulters.

The affidavit stated the state government’s Central Electricity Supply Utility (Cesu) and the three Reliance Energy Limited-managed companies — Nesco, Wesco, Southco — owed electricity duty amounting to Rs 297.505 crore. An amount of Rs 979.498 crore was pending against eight industries — Nalco (Angul/Damanjodi), ICCL/IMFA (Choudwar), Rourkela Steel Plant, Oswal Chemicals and Fertlizers Ltd (Paradip), Ballarpur Industries Ltd (BILT-SEWA, Jeypore), SMC Power Generation Ltd (Jharsuguda), Aaarti Steel and Power Ltd (Cuttack), Bhusan Power Ltd (Sambalpur) and Shyam DRI Power Ltd (Sambalpur).

“The electricity duty on energy, supplied to different types of consumers, is levied, collected and deposited in government treasury through distribution companies. The electricity duty is also levied and collected from industries having captive power plant on their own consumption from their plants,” the affidavit stated.