Govt plans `3 L cr spend to revive power utilities

The government plans to spend Rs 3 lakh crore ($41 billion) on a new plan to revive regional electricity retailers, people with knowledge of the matter said, after a previous attempt failed to stem losses at the utilities.

The spending would be spread over a few years and is likely to be unveiled on February 1 as part of the government's budget for the year starting April 1, the people said, asking not to be identified as the proposal isn't public. The plan for carrying out reforms for reducing losses of state distribution utilities was sought by the power ministry and is under discussion.

The government is focusing on turning around electricity distributors to ensure reliable power supplies, improving the financial health of generators and making the sector more attractive to foreign investors. The combined loss at the power distribution companies, mostly controlled by state administrations, jumped 69 per cent to Rs 49,620 crore in the year ended March 2019, the latest available data.

The spending would focus on upgrading infrastructure and technology of the ailing utilities to make them more efficient and reduce financial losses, according to the people. Under the plan, the central government would provide annual grants to states that meet targets set by the Centre.

The plan could include some specific measures such as separating power feeder grids for farmers and residential users, and installation of prepaid smart meters to stop pilferage and encourage timely payment, they said. It also plans to replace overhead cables with special insulated wires to prevent theft.

Electricity retailers are the weakest link in the country's power supply chain, losing on an average about a fifth of their revenue because of technical and commercial reasons, including loss of power supplies through theft, poor transmission infrastructure and inefficient billing and collection.

The plan will be a modified version of an earlier programme unveiled in 2015 to revive power distributors through restructuring of their debt. That attempt remained unsuccessful in making retailers profitable by March 2019.