Fixed costs for power a huge burden on states: Report
Power distribution companies (discoms) in 12 states are cumulatively paying a hefty Rs 17,500 crore a year for the power they don’t use, according to a report by Forum of Regulators (FoR). The amount is paid as fixed costs to recover the cost of building power plants that lie underutilised due to less than anticipated growth of electricity demand.
Among the discoms tracked in the study, the highest annual fixed cost paid for surplus power are by Uttar Pradesh (Rs 4,394 crore) Madhya Pradesh (Rs 4,325 crore), Punjab (Rs 1,880 crore), Haryana (Rs 1,719 crore) and Gujarat (Rs 1,528 crore). The figures pertain to FY21 for 10 states and FY20 for Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.
