Announcing this, Bihar Minister of State for Energy, Shyam Rajak, told reporters that the BSEB had snapped power supply to Koyala Bhawan, the Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) administrative building at Dhanbad and its residential colonies, besides the Central Coalfields Limited's headquarters at Darbhanga House and its residential colonies at Ranchi and Dhanbad.Rajak said the action followed the CIL subsidiaries' failure to pay arrears towards energy bills amounting to over Rs 167 crore.

He threatened that the State Electricity Board would be compelled to disconnect supply to the collieries and mining areas of three CIL subsidiaries -- BCCL, CCL and Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) -- if the companies failed to clear the dues. He said a formal notice would be issued to the coal companies for disconnecting power supplyin a few days' time.

Asked whether the CIL management had approached BSEB officials with an inclination to settle the arrears, Rajak said despite rounds of discussions with officials of the company's subsidiaries, until yesterday, they were, ``yet to receive the payment.''

He said the State Government was facing a financial crunch in paying the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), which had threatened to discontinue supply to the board if the arrears were not cleared.