The Meeting of Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to the Ministry of Power was held in New Delhi today. Union Minister for Power and MNRE Shri R.K Singh chaired the meeting. Minister of State for Power and heavy industries Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar was also present in the meeting. Hon’ble Members of Parliament of various political parties took part in the meeting. The MPs present were Shri Ramdes Chandrabhanji Tadas, Lok Sabha, Shri Mahabali Singh, Lok Sabha, Shri Ravindra Kushwaha, Special Invitee and Dr. Amee Yajnik, Rajya Sabha. The subject of the meeting was “Dues of GENCOs and required financial discipline in DISCOM and States”.
In the meeting, it was informed that Power sector is one of the most important drivers for economic growth and socio-economic development of a nation. The Government have brought about a transformational change in the power sector over the past few years. With total installed generation capacity of 394 GW including renewable energy capacity of 104 GW as of today, our country has transformed from a Power deficit to a Power surplus country. Adequate transmission network has been created with enhanced inter-regional transfer capacity of over 1 Lakh MW and connecting the entire country into one integrated grid running on one frequency. The country achieved 100% village electrification and universal electricity access to all the households with significant improvement in availability of Power supply in both rural and urban areas. The availability of Power in rural areas which was about 12.5 hours in 2015 has gone up to 22.5 hours and in the urban areas it has gone up to 23.36 hours.
Power Distribution remains the most critical link in the power sector value chain. It generates cash that feeds to the entire value chain right up to power generation and fuel supply. The impact of any inefficiency or financial management within power distribution flows to all upstream players in the value chain which adversely affects their operations and financial viability. One of the cases in pint is mounting Genco dues DISCOMs – it is at an alarming level of Rs. 98,722 Cr as on 31.01.2022 for Central Generating stations, IPPs and RE Generators put together. If the dues of State GENCO (Rs. 63,000 crores) are also included, the total outstanding dues of GENCOs would be Rs. 1.6 Lakh crores. In this context, it is important to assess the measures and remedies being undertaken.
A presentation was given by Ministry of Power to inform the Hon’ble MPs regarding various remedies and measures being undertaken to address dues of GENCOs and required financial discipline in DISCOMs and States are as follows:
The Government of India has initiated multiple initiatives to address the issue of surmounting GENCO dues and worsening financial performance of DISCOMs. These initiatives have been designed to tackle financial and operational issues like high AT&C Losses, high ACS_ARR gap, inadequate corporate governance, poor liquidity, lack of consumer-focused approach etc. to bring in desired financial discipline in DISCOMs and State Government.
The scheme is comprised of two components – Part A: Financial support for Prepaid Smart Metering and System Metering and Up-gradation of Distribution Infrastructure; and Part B: Training and capacity building and other enabling supporting activities.
Through this scheme States/DISCOMs would be able to access funds for addressing infrastructure constraints in their distribution system as well as for its further augmentation/strengthening. This scheme provide for installation of prepaid smart meters with two-way communication features for over 25 crore electricity connections under TOTEX mode which will help in reducing AT&C losses and facilitating automatic measurement of energy flows and enable energy accounting and auditing without any human intervention.
As per guidelines issued, the states’ eligibility would be determined through evaluation across three components:
Hon’ble Members of Parliament made several suggestions with regard to various initiatives and schemes in the Ministry of Power. Shri Singh closed the meeting thanking the participants for their valuable suggestions.
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