The Uttar Pradesh electricity regulator asked the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation (UPPCL) to deposit Rs 7,244.7 crore in a regulatory fund by January 2022 to meet the renewable purchase obligations (RPO) for FY2022 to clear the previous dues. It would provide necessary payment assurance to solar, wind, and hydel power producers, which supply electricity to the state. The amount that UPPCL has to deposit includes Rs 1,459.3 crore for being unable to meet the RPO targets till FY21, while the rest of the amount is for meeting the RPO targets for FY22. For the first time, the UP utility has asked to pay the RPO funds in advance. The pending overdue is receivable for 45 days or more, and the power producers stand at Rs 5,688 crore at FY21. The regulator has directed UPPCL to route payments to renewable power producers through RPO funds to ensure that the developers get paid on time. Rs 709 crore has already been paid to the developers in the first three months of FY21 from the RPO funds. To keep the liquidity flow of the discoms, the regulator has allowed UPPCL to deposit funds in 10 equal instalments between July 2021 and January 2022. According to the experts, the amount is equal to 10% of the state's annual power purchase cost. For the cumulative shortfall of the RPO targets, the amount calculated is Rs 1 per unit for the electricity not procured by the state discoms till FY21. For FY22, the calculated amount is Rs 4.37 per unit, which is the average power purchase cost of the UP discoms. UPPCL has to submit their quarterly compliance reports of their deposited RPO funds, the regulator said. As the RPO target shortfall till FY21 was much higher for non-solar and hydel sectors, compared with the solar power procurement, the regulatory has directed UPPCL to revisit its renewable power purchase strategy. Image Source Also read: Ministry of Power asks states to plan grid islanding for big cities Also read: PGCIL to invest Rs 22.20 bn in power transmission network