21 of the 34 states and UTs record rise in discom dues in last two years

Independent power producers and renewable energy providers account for three-fourths of owed amount

The situation of power discoms in the country has deteriorated over the last two years. Data released on the government’s PRAAPTI portal showed that the amount owed by discoms to power producers touched a new high of Rs 1.05 trillion in April 2022--compared to two years ago 20.4 per cent rise in overdues.

The current dues of discoms also increased, taking the outstanding dues of discoms to Rs 1.25 trillion compared to Rs 1.05 trillion in April 2020.

Further analysis of PRAAPTI portal data by Business Standard shows that 21 of the 34 states and UTs recorded a rise in overdues over the two years.

Sikkim had the worst-performing discom in the country with a 1,525 per cent rise in overdues over the last two years. An amount is declared overdue if the outstanding is not cleared within the 45-day period.

Madhya Pradesh recorded a 760 per cent increase from Rs 638 crore to Rs 5,492 crore, whereas overdue jumped 250 per cent for Mizoram discoms.

Gujarat and Bihar recorded an over 200 per cent increase among the larger states.

Ten states in the country recorded an over 100 per cent increase in discom dues compared to two years ago.

But not all states suffered a setback, as some improved their debt profile over the last two years. Uttar Pradesh’s discom's overdues increased three-times compared to last year, but against April 2020, overdues were down 23 per cent. Among the 13 states which recorded a fall in overdues, Uttarakhand had the best performance with a 95 per cent reduction, followed by Puducherry.

Odisha recorded a 53 per cent decline in overdues between April 2020 and April 2022.

While seven states had overdues for six months and more in April 2020 and April 2021, the number of states with overdues exceeding six months went up to nine in April 2022.

While discoms were faster in clearing the government debt, independent power producers and renewable energy generators recorded a rise in debt in the last two years. Compared to April 2020, the overdues owed to independent power producers as a proportion of total overdues increased from 46 per cent to 55.7 per cent. The share of renewable energy generators nearly doubled from 11.6 per cent to 19.9 per cent between April 2020 and April 2022.

The number of disputes raised by discoms also doubled from Rs 13,576 crore to Rs 25,129 crore. Independent power producers accounted for 80 per cent of the disputed amount owed by discoms.