Power ministry to roll out scheme to help reduce dues of discoms
NEW DELHI: The Union power ministry is working on a scheme to mitigate the financial woes of the distribution companies (discoms) that are unable to pay their dues, the government said in a statement on Wednesday. It also said that Union power minister RK Singh has asked the chief ministers of all states, and lieutenant governors (LG) of union territories to set up state-level steering committees for the energy transition to renewables.
Delay of payments by a discom to a generating company adversely affects the cash flow of a generating company, which needs to make provisions for input supplies such as coal, and for keeping adequate working capital for the day-to-day operation of the power plant, etc.
According to the data available on PRAAPTI (Payment ratification and analysis in power procurement for bringing transparency in invoicing of generators) portal, as of May 18, discoms had dues (excluding disputed amounts and late payment surcharge (LPSC)) totalling ₹1,00,018 crore and the LPSC dues were ₹6,839 crore.
