NEW DELHI: Any broad-based decline in economic activity is a crisis for a core sector like power and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is beginning to show. With the nationwide lockdown suppressing most industrial activity, India’s power sector is facing a sharp drop in demand and, consequently, revenues.
The cash crunch is expected to exacerbate the sector’s already shaky debt situation — power distribution companies (discoms) owed power generators (gencos) Rs 92,602 crore in dues as of the end of February, a 31 per cent increase from last year. The situation has only worsened since the lockdown took most industrial activity out of the game in late March. Peak power demand met as of April 26 stood at 123.65 GW, compared to an average of around 176.8 GW during the month last year.
