Discoms' Aggregate Loss Rises 66% To Rs 50,281 Crore In FY21: Report
Tariff subsidy billed by discoms increased from Rs 1,20,828 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 1,32,416 crore in 2020-21.
Aggregate losses of power distribution utilities or discoms increased by 66% to Rs 50,281 crore in 2020-21 as compared to the previous year, a report by state-run Power Finance Corp. said.
The 'Report on Performance of Power Utilities in 2020-21' unveiled at state power ministers' conference in Udaipur also stated that overall aggregate technical & commercial losses of discome deteriorated from 20.73% in 2019-20 to 22.32% in 2020-21.
For 2020-21, the report covers 117 utilities comprising 68 discoms, 23 power generation utilities, 22 power transmission utilities and 4 power trading utilities.
Aggregate losses of discoms increased from Rs 30,203 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 50,281 crore in 2020-21, the report stated adding that aggregate losses on tariff subsidy received, excluding Regulatory Income and Revenue Grant under UDAY (discoms revival scheme) for loan takeover increased from Rs 63,949 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 88,500 crore in 2020-21.
The Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana was launched by the Centre in November 2015 for operational and financial turnaround of state- owned discoms.
The scheme was aimed at reducing the interest burden, the cost of power, power losses in distribution sector, and improve operational efficiency of discoms.
The study also showed that the gross energy sold by discoms was 10,24,309 million units in 2019-20 and 10,05,044 MU in 2020-21 registering a year-on-year decrease of 1.88%.
Revenue from sale of power, including tariff subsidy billed fell 1.76% during the same period from Rs 6,43,881 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 6,32,543 crore in 2020-21.
Tariff subsidy billed by discoms increased from Rs 1,20,828 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 1,32,416 crore in 2020-21. As a percentage of total revenue, tariff subsidy billed by the utilities increased from 16.52% in 2019-20 to 18.53% in 2020-21, it stated.
Gap on tariff subsidy billed basis increased from Rs 0.24 per kWh in 2019-20 to Rs 0.41 per kWh in 2020-21, it said.
Gap on tariff subsidy received, excluding Regulatory Income and Revenue Grant under UDAY, for loan takeover increased from Rs 0.50 per kWh to Rs 0.71 per kWh in the same period.
Cash adjusted gap increased from Rs 0.83 per kWh to Rs 0.95 per kWh.
Receivables for sale of power (number of days) increased from 140 days sale as on March 31, 2020 to 161 days sale as on March 31, 2021.
Payables for purchase of power (number of days) increased from 164 days sale as on March 31, 2020 to 176 days sale as on March 31 last year.
Net worth continues to be negative at Rs 44,160 crore as on March 31, 2021. Total borrowings by discoms increased from Rs 5,05,246 crore to Rs 5,86,194 crore.
It also stated that despite the continuing operational challenges due to COVID-19, all discoms covered in the report have submitted audited accounts for 2020-21.
As many as 20 states/ UTs have issued tariff orders for 2022-23 on time (by April 1, 2022). 25 States/ UTs have issued tariff order as on July 25, 2022, it added.
About generation utilities, it said they earned a profit of Rs 2,700 crore in 2020-21, as compared to profit of Rs 3,836 crore in 2019-20. As many as 16 out of 23 generation utilities registered profit in 2020-21.
Net worth for generation utilities increased from Rs 1,10,541 crore as on March 31, 2020 to Rs 1,15,087 crore as on March 31, 2021.
About the performance of transmission utilities, it said transmission utilities earned a profit of Rs 955 crore in 2020-21 compared to a loss of Rs 287 crore in 2019-20.
As many as 15 out of 22 transmission utilities registered profit in 2020-21.
Net worth of transmission utilities increased from Rs 86,503 crore as on March 31, 2020 to Rs 93,614 crore as on March 31, 2021.
About the performance of trading utilities, it stated that they earned a profit of Rs 16,091 crore in 2020-21 compared to a loss of Rs 4,396 crore in 2019-20.
The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation incurred a profit of Rs 17,379 crore (mainly due to reversal of impairment in investment amounting to Rs 17,112 crore) in 2020-21 while Grid Corporation of Odisha incurred a loss of Rs 1,382 crore, it stated.
The net worth for trading utilities increased from Rs 43,423 crore as on March 31, 2020 to Rs 70,246 crore as on March 31, 2021, it stated.