The Union Budget 2024 announced on July 23, 2024, has envisaged a nearly 14 per cent growth in plan outlay of Central public sector undertakings under the power ministry.
A study by T&D India, based on Union Budget documents, reveals that the aggregate plan outlay of nine CPSUs under the power ministry is estimated at Rs.67,286.01 crore for FY25 (BE) – up 13.8 per cent from Rs.59,119.55 crore in FY24 (RE).
Notably, this plan outlay, which can be interpreted as the capital expenditure to be undertaken by these CPSUs in FY25, is to be met entirely through IEBR (internal and extra-budgetary resources), which is to say that there is no budgetary support from the Union government. This is true for all CPSUs except CVPPL (details below)
NTPC has by far the highest plan outlay at Rs.22,700 crore in FY25, slightly higher than that in FY24 (see table). Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) has a plan outlay of Rs.12,250 crore in FY25, significantly higher by nearly 40 per cent from its comparable level of Rs.8,800 crore in FY24 (RE). In fact, as already reported by T&D India on May 27, 2024, PGCIL is expected to close FY25 with a capex of around Rs.15,000 crore with two-thirds of this coming from its TBCB projects.
Assistance to CVPPL
The Union Budget has also envisaged, for the first time, plan outlay for Chenab Valley Projects Pvt Ltd (CVPPL) —a 51:49 joint venture between NHPC Ltd and Jammu & Kashmir Power Development Corporation Ltd with an under-development hydropower portfolio of over 3 GW.
This outlay of Rs.568.68 crore will be in the form of budgetary support (Central assistance/grant) to CVPPL under the “Prime Minister Development Fund 2015” for the upcoming Pakal Dul hydropower project in the UT of J&K.
It may be noted that the plan outlays of power CPSUs outlined in the Union Budget 2024-25 are the same as those in the Interim Budget presented in February 2024, except for the inclusion of CVPPL.
Outlay of Central Schemes
The Budget has envisaged a nearly 18 per cent growth in the aggregate outlay of Central schemes under the power ministry. This outlay is pegged at Rs.16,362.02 for FY25 (BE) as against Rs.13,921.52 crore in FY24 (RE).
The Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) commands the highest outlay of Rs.12,585 crore in FY25, up 21 per from Rs.10,400 crore in FY24 (RE). Other schemes to have been allocated significant funds include “Power System Development Fund” and “Strengthening of Power Systems” (see table).
In FY24, actual expenditure on RDSS stood at Rs.10,400 crore (RE), around 14 per cent lower than what was envisaged in the Union Budget 2023-24 (BE).
(Note: BE = Budget Estimate; RE = Revised Estimate)
