While the operational targets set under the UDAY scheme for the revival of electricity discoms are being missed and the efficacy of the scheme itself has come under a cloud, several state governments are putting further burden on these entities by unveiling various sops for different sections of consumers, including farmers and households and not compensating them adequately.
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand have cut down on the budgetary allocations to their respective energy departments in FY20 by 25%, 18% and 4%, respectively from the levels in the previous year, a move that could hit the discoms’ ability to strengthen the network to cut pilferage and improve the efficiency of tariff collection.
Chhattisgarh has announced a flat 50% discount on power bills to consumers who use below 400 units of electricity in a month. Maharshtra government that has been delaying payments to discoms — government departments’ dues to the state’s discoms rose 31% year-on-year in H1 FY19 to `6,084 crore — has continued with massive power subsidies and budgeted for another `5,210 crore to subsidise electricity to industry and agriculture in FY20, and the discoms are worried if the funds will reach them on time.
