Powering down! In first half of FY19, discoms report financial loss of over Rs 15,000 crore

State-run electricity distribution companies (discoms) reported financial losses of over Rs 15,000 crore in the first half of this fiscal — as much as the losses incurred by them during the whole of last year (see chart) — signalling a reversal of a declining trend since the UDAY scheme for these entities’ revival was launched in November 2015 and a possible unravelling of the scheme itself.