At a time when the power supply position is getting grim due to shortage of coal against the demand and slapping of new conditions frequently by the Ministry of Power to ease the situation, the performance of two power distribution companies (Discoms) of Telangana for the quarter-ending March 2022 has left much to be desired.
The not so healthy indicators on some key aspects such as average cost of supply (ACS) — average revenue realised (ARR) gap, feeder segregation, renewable power purchase obligation, smart (prepaid) metering, aggregate technical and commercial losses —and others come as eye openers to the Discoms. It assumes significance in the backdrop of Discoms’ submission to the electricity regulatory commission (ERC) on improving their internal efficiency, about ₹4,100 crore as in financial terms.
Assessment of the performance of the two Discoms done under Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) has put the ACS-ARR gap at ₹1.07 per unit and the AT&C losses at 12.02%. As a result, the loss of the Discoms’ for 2021-22 has been put at a whopping ₹5,816 crore in spite of ₹5,940 crore subsidy extended by the government in lieu of free power supply to agriculture sector and partial subsidy given to some other sections.
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