Coronavirus impact: Power demand falls 20%, discom revenues to be hit

Following the sharp dip in the energy demand owing to the continuing industrial and commercial shutdown to contain the spread of pandemic coronavirus, the revenue of state power distribution companies (discoms) is expected to be adversely affected and this wll further worsen their already precarious financial condition.

At a pan-India level, the power demand has already fallen by more than 20 per cent to 1,21,937 megawatt (mw) from 1,54,045 mw, while the power supply also crashed to 29,750 lakh units (LU) from 35,650 LU.

All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) chairman Shailendra Dubey said the energy demand had fallen considerably in the country, which posed a serious challenge to the commercial viability of these discoms, most of which are state owned and operated.