4 UP discoms get lowest rating

LUCKNOW: The Union power ministry’s sixth annual integrated rating of the country’s 41 power distribution companies in 22 states has given C grade, the lowest rank, to Uttar Pradesh’s four discoms.

The four UP discoms are: Madhyanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (MVVNL), Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (PuVVNL), Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (DVVNL) and the Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (PVVNL).

The low ratings indicate Uttar Pradesh’s power distribution companies continue to be plagued by increasing aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses, high cost of power procurement and poor cost coverage despite various ongoing schemes, including the ambitious UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) aiming to achieve their financial turnaround for years.

The report found the MVVNL

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It is a matter of concern that the performance of UP’s discoms is only declining. Their inefficiency is passed on to consumers in the name of tariff revision AVADHESH KUMAR VERMA, president, power consumer body

(Lucknow), the PuVVNL (Varanasi) and the DVVNL (Agra) to be as high on the AT&C losses as 52%, 51.1% and 43.3%, respectively in 2017 while the PVVNL (Meerut) had 26.9% losses in the same year. The losses were among the highest in the country.

Principal secretary, energy and UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) chairman, Alok Kumar, however, clarified the rating released by the Union power ministry was based on the discoms’ performance during 2016-17, prior to the present government coming to power.

“There has been considerable improvement in the discoms’ operational and financial performance during last one year and half the result of which will reflected in the next annual rating,” he said.

Of the 41 discoms, only eight have received the C grade and four of the eight are from UP. Among the remaining four, there is one each from Jharkhand, Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur.

Among the UP discoms, Kanpur Electricity Supply Company (KESCo) has received the relatively better B grade, but this rank also stands for the below average operational and financial capability.

Energy minister Srikant Sharma on Friday held a meeting with UPPCL officials, asking them to try to bring down AT&C losses to 15% as desired under UDAY. “Work in such a way as state’s three of the five discoms got the top ranking two years from now,” he said to the officials.