Discoms’ dues to power producers rise by 45% to Rs 81,000 crore
State-run electricity distribution companies’ (discoms) dues to power producers stood at Rs 80,930 crore at the end of November 2019, up 45% from a year earlier. About 89% of these (Rs 71,673 crore) were “over-dues” with payment default of 60 days or more.
The dues include those to independent power producers (about 30% of the total) and state-run utilities such as NTPC, DVC and NHPC.
The discoms’ dues to power producers have been rising relentlessly over the past two years and this could’ve also had made them cut purchases, a trend which has reflected on the use of generation capacity (PLF) as well as power consumption pattern, both of which have been sliding. The trend of rising dues to power plants continues despite the Union power ministry implementing the letter of credit (LC) mechanism since August 2019 to compel discoms to become more disciplined in meeting payment obligations.
