Covid-19: Under Rs 18,000 cr loss, power discoms looking at a bleak future

State-owned power distribution companies (discoms) are looking at a bleak future in the near term as funding and revenue sources have dried up. Buried under losses of Rs 18,000 crore, with lenders shying to fund them, turnaround of discoms could be a long shot now.

The current lockdown period has hit the finances of the discoms with the high-paying industrial and commercial customers are shut for almost a month. Due to the sluggish economic activity, industrial power demand is expected to be tepid in the coming months as well. While its bulk buyers are elusive, discoms continue to supply to households,