On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reminded state governments to clear up the dues they owe to power distribution companies (discoms) and generating companies (gencos). He further added that overdue that is stretched for a long time are threats to the financial stability of these discoms and gencos.
As per the data provided by the power ministry, the states and the union territories (UTs) combined owe over Rs 1 trillion to the gencos and The total money they owed to the discoms is Rs 1.3 trillion as of March 31, 2022.
The delay in payment results in inadequacy in the revenue of the power companies. Consequently, the money which could have been used for the development of the infrastructure of the companies to reduce the wastage is then only used to cover the operational costs. The average transmission loss in India is around 20 percent as compared to other developed countries which are only 5-8 percent.
The insufficiency of the funds results in less production of electricity for consumption. Many states witnessed long power cuts at peak of summers including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh in 2022.
Moreover, on June 9, 2022, the power demand in the country touched the all-time high of 2,10,793 megawatts (MW). But due to limited infrastructure, the gencos were unable to match the demand as a consequence the discoms cut the supply for long hours in several regions.
According to the power ministry, The states owe dues to the gencos are as follows:
Maharashtra owes a maximum of Rs 21,500 crore. Tamil Nadu is in second place along with Rs 20,990 crore of due, and Andhra Pradesh owes the third highest, Rs 10,109 crore.
On the other hand, Telangana owes the maximum to the discoms which is Rs 11,935 crore worth of dues. Maharashtra is on the second highest with the due of Rs 9,131 crore, after which Andhra Pradesh comes third with dues to the discoms at Rs 9,116 crore.
Furthermore, the power companies are yet to receive Rs 76,337 crore as subsidies from the state government under various programs, apart from the dues from the state and UTs, as shown by the power ministry.
Rajasthan owes the maximum of Rs 15,597 crores to the discoms while Punjab owes the second highest due of Rs 9,020 crore.
