New Delhi: Just three states, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, account for nearly half of the total dues of state electricity distribution companies in the country which had been estimated at over Rs 95,000 crore at the end of December last year, showed the latest official data. RK Singh, the minister for power and new & renewable energy, Tuesday told the Rajya Sabha that state power distribution companies owed Rs 95,167 crore rupees to centre’s power generation companies, independent power producers and renewable power energy companies in December 2021.
Heavy debt of distribution companies
The data shared by the power minister showed that Maharashtra accounted for the biggest share of outstanding dues of state power distribution companies at around Rs 18,740 crore, which is nearly one-fifth of all the outstanding dues of DISCOMs. Maharashtra is followed by Tamil Nadu which has outstanding dues of Rs 16,925 crore, followed by Rajasthan at Rs 11,006 crore.
Rajasthan is followed by India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh which owes Rs 8,396 crore. While Andhra Pradesh owes Rs 7,357 crore, Jammu & Kashmir owes Rs 6,260 crore, Telangana owes Rs 6,169 crore, Madhya Pradesh owes Rs 5,317 crore and Karnataka owes Rs 5,283 crore.
Surprisingly, states such as Bihar and West Bengal, which are known for their weak financial positions, owe a very small amount in comparison to the power producers in comparison with some of the richest states such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. While power distribution companies in West Bengal owe only Rs 504 crore to power producers, Bihar owes only Rs 586 crore.
Loans worth Rs 1 lakh crore disbursed
In India, state-owned power distribution companies, Discoms, are in heavy debt due to heavy inefficiency, transmission and distribution losses and the subsidized rates offered by the populist governments. In order to infuse liquidity in the indebted power distribution companies, two central PSUs Rural Electrification and Power Finance Corporation have been extending special long term loans with a maturity of up to 10 years to these companies to clear their outstanding loans.
This loan facility was launched under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan in the wake of difficulties faced by the discom companies due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 global pandemic. Under the facility, loans worth over Rs 1.35 lakh crore have been sanctioned to power distribution companies and loans worth Rs 1.03 lakh crore have been already disbursed. The disbursement under the long term transition loans have been linked with DISCOMs undertaking specified reform measures.
