Pay dues to BSNL, it'll pay state discoms later: RSP's letter to Mamata

Union Communications, Electronics, and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has written to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee about the West Bengal government's dues of Rs 46 crore owed to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). The minister has asked Mamata Banerjee to immediately clear the dues. 

In his letter, Ravi Shankar Prasad has requested the State Government to settle the pending payment to BSNL, and simultaneously asked the state government to consider a moratorium on the dues owed by BSNL to state discoms. "It is requested that the state government favourably considers the request for a moratorium on payment by BSNL to State Electricity Board/Discoms till 31.03.2020 and thereafter BSNL can settle the dues in four quarterly installments with a waiver of interests/penalty/surcharge." the letter read. 

Asking the payment to be cleared on priority, "Further, payment due to BSNL from State Government Departments/Undertakings may kindly be settled on priority,” the letter further added.

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READ | Mamata Banerjee pegs loss due to cyclone 'Bulbul' at Rs 50,000 crore

Cyclone Bulbul leads to Rs 50,000 crore loss

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, after conducting an aerial survey of cyclone 'Bulbul'-hit areas in North 24 Parganas, said on Wednesday that the loss incurred by the state due to the natural calamity might go up to Rs 50,000 crore. Banerjee handed over a cheque of Rs 2.4 lakh each to the family members of five people from the district who lost their lives in the calamity.

"If I'm not wrong, I think there has been a loss of Rs 50,000 crore," the chief minister said at an administrative review meeting here following the reconnaissance.

Adding further the West Bengal CM said, "A total of 15 lakh hectares of agricultural land has been damaged. The entire paddy cultivation has been ruined. I assure the farmers of all forms of support from our government. The farmers under the state's crop insurance policy will get a hundred per cent coverage.”

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(With inputs from PTI)