New Delhi: Minister of state for New and Renewable Energy Shripad Yesso Naik on Thursday held a virtual meeting with GoM constituted for addressing DISCOMs issues. In his opening remarks, Naik highlighted that the financial viability of electricity distribution utilities, or DISCOMs lies at the heart of India’s energy sector and is very critical for the entire value chain, however, they face significant challenges that affect not only their financial health but also the sustainability of entire Power Sector value chain.
In the meeting that was held in the national capital Naik mentioned that year on year gap between the average cost of supply (ACS) and the average revenue realized (ARR) is eroding the financial stability of the Utilities which needs to be brought down. This gap is largely due to under-recovery of costs esp. power purchase costs, non-cost reflective tariffs, distribution losses, etc, he said. The minister expressed concern about the AT&C losses which are far above the global average of 6–8% and the need to improve it by improving network, adopting new technologies and improving the billing and collection efficiency.
Naik mentioned about the roles that each stakeholder should play in improving the viability of these utilities especially in the context of the investment required to cater to growing energy demand in the country. He further mentioned about the Gujarat DISCOMs and suggested to understand the steps taken by Gujarat distribution utilities to improve their financial performance.
Speaking at the meeting the energy minister of Andhra Pradesh Gottipati Ravi Kumar mentioned about priority being given by the State Government for development of Renewable Energy. Madhya Pradesh's energy minister Pradyuman Singh Tomar emphasised on the need for accurate energy accounting and auditing for reducing line losses and the need to have effective consumer grievance redressal mechanism at each level of Government. Tamil Nadu's electricity minister highlighted the role of smart meters in improving the revenue of DISCOMs.
Heeralal Nagar, MoS Energy of Rajasthan highlighted the rich renewable energy potential of the State and the projects taken by State under Hybrid Annuity Model for providing low cost day time supply of power for agricultural purposes.
It was agreed that with rich experience of the group, innovative and out of the box solutions will be explored to steer the distribution sector on the path of financial viability. Also, it was agreed to convene further meetings in the member States.
A. K Sharma, Energy Minister, Uttar Pradesh, Gottipati Ravi Kumar, Energy Minister, Andhra Pradesh, Pradyuman Singh Tomar, Energy Minister, Madhya Pradesh, V Senthil Balaji, Minister of Electricity, Tamil Nadu, Meghana Deepak Sakore Bordikar, MoS Energy, Maharashtra and Heeralal Nagar, MoS Energy, Rajasthan who are the members of the group attended the meeting. The meeting was also attended by senior officials from central and state government and officials from the CPSE Power Finance Corporation Ltd.
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