Discoms’ outstanding dues to power generators rise 24.7% to ₹39,498 cr
NEW DELHI: Amid stress in the power sector, woes of electricity generating firms have increased further as their outstanding dues on state distribution companies (discoms) rose to ₹39,498 crore in October 2018, up 24.7% from a year-ago levels, official data showed.
In October 2017, the discoms’ dues to power-producing companies stood at ₹31,676 crore, the data available on the PRAAPTI (Payment Ratification And Analysis in Power Procurement for Bringing Transparency in Invoicing of Generators) website showed.
The website was launched by the government in May last year to bring transparency in payments. Discoms of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi and Tamil Nadu owe the major portion of dues to the power generating companies and take over 514 days or about 1 year and 4 months to make payments, the portal showed.
While UP tops the list with 537 days in making payments, Delhi takes 519 days and is followed by Maharashtra (518 days), Karnataka (517 days), Rajasthan (516 days), Tamil Nadu (515 days), Telangana (514 days) and Andhra Pradesh (514 days).
Outstandings of public sector thermal power companies amount to over 55% of the total dues of ₹39,498 crore on discoms. This includes outstanding of NTPC at ₹15,661.31 crore, NHPC at ₹3,011.67 crore and Damodar Valley Corporation at ₹1,990.59 crore.
Discoms owe the most to Adani Power at ₹6,878.94 crore, Bajaj Group-owned Lalitpur Power Generation Company Ltd at ₹1,861 crore, GMR at ₹1,630.40 and Sembcorp Energy at ₹1,712.32 crore among the private generators. Senior officials of thermal power generation firms said: “Such staggering levels of unpaid bills have left private sector companies worried. While the issue of 30,000MW stressed assets are yet to be resolved, this alarming level of unpaid bills have started impacting cashflows of many companies.”