Investment will not come in unviable power sector, says R K Singh

The minister said that he is worried about the sustainability (of discoms) because a large number of them are loss making

Power Minister R K Singh on Monday expressed concerns about the sustainability of state-owned loss making discoms saying investments in the power sector will not come unless there is viability in the system.
 

“Investment will not come unless and until there is viability in the system, unless and until the people who put money are assured that power they generate and sell will be paid for. That is the basic problem of sustainability we are facing,” Singh said at the 93rd annual general meeting of industry chamber Ficci. Singh’s statement assumes significance as India aims to move towards higher economic growth rate which requires an efficient and vibrant power sector.
 

The minister said: “I am worried about sustainability (of discoms) because a large number of discoms are loss making. Most of the state-owned discoms are loss making. None of the private-owned discoms are loss making as their aggregate technical and commercial losses are below norm.” He explained that the discoms are not able to pay for the power supply from gencos because they are making losses, “which causes stress upstream and dampens investment”.