PSPCL clocks profit for first time in 5 years

TO FURTHER CHECK EXPENSES ON POWER BILLS BY RESIDENTS, SMART METERS MAY ALSO BE USED AS PREPAYMENT METERS IN FUTURE, SAY OFFICIALS

PATIALA: Financial diligence, reduction in cost of money and improvement in operational efficiency have led the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to report a profit of Rs 1,446 crore for 2020-21 for the first time in five years. In 2019-20, the utility had reported a loss of Rs 1,158 crore. Transmission and distribution losses also came down slightly.

Elaborating, chairman and managing director A Venu Prasad said, “We saw a reduction in finance cost of Rs 1,306 crore due to the UJWAL-DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme; there was an increase in carrying cost of Rs 577 crore for delayed payment of subsidy, increase in grant by Rs 570 crore on account of loss funding of previous years and increase in delayed payment surcharge of Rs 156 crore from consumers.”

He added that annual accounts were approved on Tuesday at a meeting of board of directors of the PSPCL, where Anurag Aggarwal, additional chief secretary (power), and principal secretary finance, KAP Sinha, were also present.

Prasad added that the utility decreased its borrowing by 4% and it had reduced its financial cost by restructuring of loans. “PSPCL earned a rebate of around Rs 150 crore in 2020-21 against payments towards power purchase by efficient handling of its working capital,” he added, mentioning smart meters as another major initiative towards a better system.

“To further control expenditure on power bills by the citizens, smart meters may also be used as prepayment meters in future. This measure will unquestionably be going to improve the operational competence of the corporation by significant reduction in transmission and distribution,” he claimed, adding that cheaper power replaced expensive power bought from other sources. In the process, PSPCL procured around 724 million units at Rs 2.76 per KWH, leading to a 6.4% decrease in power purchase cost over the last fiscal.

Prasad also thanked the Punjab government for its continued support to the power sector, as it had released subsidy of Rs 9,657 crore during 2020-21, covering important sectors like agriculture, industry, and weaker sections of the society.