State-run electricity distribution companies’ (discoms) dues to power producers stood at Rs 38,023 crore at the end of 2018-19, up 59.8% from a year earlier and 65% of these were “over-dues” with payment default of 60 days or more. The dues include those to independent power producers (about 46% of the total) and state-run utilities like NTPC, DVC and NHPC.
The steep rise in dues comes at a time when generation units with combined capacity of 40 gigawatts (GW) are stressed and the sector is still grappling with the fall-out of several years of muted demand growth.
