High discom debt, losses hinder prospects of listing state power firms

As discoms pushed all the buttons to meet the record-high demand during FY23, their total debt rose to Rs 70k cr for funding their capex, working capital requirement, and operational losses

Last week, at a conference of state power ministers in New Delhi, Union Power Minister M L Khattar urged them to publicly list their profit-making power sector entities. “Those states which have good performing generating or transmission companies (gencos or transcos) and even power distribution companies (discoms) should consider listing them on exchanges,” Khattar said.

 

But he juxtapositioned it with the worry­ing statistics of state-owned discoms. “The current cumulative debt of discoms is Rs 6.84 trillion, and the accumulated losses stand at Rs 6.46 trillion as of now,” the minister said.

 

During 2023-24 (FY24), the cost of power procurement for