Discoms' dues to generators rise 48% to Rs 1.27 lakh crore

NEW DELHI: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a wider impact on the country's power sector in the current financial year with the acute slowdown witnessed in the first quarter period carrying on further, albeit at a lot lower levels, affecting both demand and supply and hiking the stress levels of state discoms.

According to analysts, the poor run for the sector during the pandemic has led to a further deterioration in the financial position of the power distribution companies (discoms) as their pending dues to power generation companies (gencos) have shot up 48 per cent year-on-year (4 per cent month-on-month) to Rs 1.27 lakh crore as of September 2020.

The rise is despite the Rs 1.2 lakh crore liquidity window opened by the Centre under Aatmanirbhar mission. While the liquidity being released by the REC and the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) is helping discoms clear their dues to gencos, their overall poor financial position keeps adding to outstanding every month.

Discoms' total outstanding stood at Rs 1.39 lakh crore (+ 28 per cent YoY/+3 per cent MoM)— breaching its November 2015 peak of Rs 1.35 lakh crore.

Discoms in key states — Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, J&K and Telangana — account for 79 per cent of the total overdue to gencos.

According to an analysis done by Emkay Global Financial Services, the discoms' overdues could take a while to moderate as power generation saw a sharp pick-up in October 2020 against which additional receivables could be formed. (IANS)

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