From Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)-led management of power distribution to establishing a modern cyber security centre and undergrounding power lines suffering from Right of Way (RoW) issues, the state is attempting a historic rewiring of its power sector reforms.
“In the last 7–8 years, we have invested around ₹75,000 crore from our state plan under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) and before that the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY),” Manoj Kumar Singh, Bihar’s energy secretary and chairman and managing director of Bihar State Power Holding Company (BSPHCL), told Business Standard.
Between 2022-23 and 2024-25, the average power procurement cost in the state has come down from ₹5.52 per unit to ₹5.44 per unit. “Although a nominal decline, it is a work in progress and the state will try to bring it down even further. Once our Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) mature, the infrastructure development charges of the generating plants will move out of pricing and the overall cost should go down,” Singh said.
He added that power purchase cost reduction must be attempted by all the discoms through an intelligent mix of long-term PPAs and short-term market procurement. Power Secretary Pankaj Agarwal had last month urged discoms across the country to “seriously consider” optimising their cost of supply, while speaking at an event in Delhi.
BSPHCL is the holding company for Bihar's power distribution utilities, North Bihar Power Distribution Company (NBPDCL) and South Bihar Power Distribution Company (SBPDCL). In the performance rankings of power distribution utilities, released recently by the power ministry, NBPDCL secured the 13th rank among 54 state and private power utilities, while SBPDCL ranked 20th.
According to the rankings, both the discoms made significant progress in power distribution in FY25 as compared to the previous fiscal. Their billing efficiency improved from 84.04 per cent to 86.45 per cent, and collection efficiency increased from 94.82 per cent to 97.73 per cent during the period.
Singh said the state government has issued a work order for the preparation of a digital fixed assets register for the mapping of power assets, their geo-tagging and plotting on a portal. “It is an IT component required for tariff fixation as well. Discoms must know where their assets are, what is their location, and what is their age. We have also awarded contracts for a modern cyber security centre. We have issued an ERP bid which is in the award stage,” he said.
Additionally, the state government is taking up undergrounding work of power lines in a major portion of the capital city, Patna. As per the plan, most of the distribution lines facing Right of Way (RoW) issues will be undergrounded.
The two discoms have also installed more than 84 lakh smart prepaid meters. This constitutes around 48 per cent of the total consumer base, Singh said, adding that it has helped improve revenue collection and bring efficiency in revenue administration.
The aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses for the state have come down to 15.5 per cent in FY25 from 20.32 per cent in FY24, falling below the national average of 17.60 per cent. “It is a significant achievement for a state which has more than 85 per cent of its consumer base in rural areas. Investment in improving the infrastructure has resulted in bringing down system losses, particularly T&D losses,” Singh said.
Bihar's total power demand rose from 4,965 megawatts in 2017-18 to 6,880 megawatts in 2022-23, reflecting a growth of 38.6 per cent over five years. Moreover, per capita consumption of electricity in the state has more than doubled from 145 kilowatt-hours in 2012-13 to 329 kilowatt-hours in 2021-22.
 "power, electricity")