Letter to BS: Discoms are in deplorable state, need urgent action

This refers to the editorial “Power crisis” (July 9). The fact that “discoms can pose risk for state government finances” should ring alarm bells for the Centre as well as the state governments. The harsh reality is that on an average, power utilities account for over 60 per cent of the total outstanding guarantees. A deplorable state of affairs, to say the least, and there is need for urgent action.

The root causes indeed are the pathetic operational efficiency of most state-owned thermal plants and the totally flawed power-pricing strategy that discoms are forced to follow. One doesn’t need to