The payment position of power discoms continued to improve in April 2021, judging from latest government data.
Data pertaining to April 2021 was released on the PRAAPTI portal recently. Here are some highlights:
The total dues of discoms, as of April 30, 2021, stood at Rs.81,721 crore. This level was 11 per cent lower than the comparable Rs.91,906 crore of 2020. There has been a consistent year-on-year decline in total dues of discoms for the past 5-6 months.
- This outstanding amount includes “current dues” and “overdue” amounts. A current due becomes “overdue” when it remains unpaid for a period of sixty days or more, which is the grace period.
- It is also interesting to note that the “overdue” amount as of April 30, 2021 was nearly 10 per cent lower than that on April 30, 2020.
- Current dues (outstanding for less than 60 days) of discoms stood at Rs.12,896 crore as of April 30, 2021, down 18 per cent from Rs.15,789 crore, as of the same date in 2020. This fall reflects timely payment by discoms, resulting in slower growth in accumulation of overdue amount.
- The amount billed by generators to power discoms was Rs.15,234 crore in April 2021. This was as much as 21 per cent lower than in April 2020. This decline reflects many phenomena. The month of April 2020 was marked by a near-total national lockdown, adversely affecting power consumption—especially by the small/medium industrial sector and the commercial segment. Also, discoms have been purchasing cheaper electricity from power exchanges, resulting in lower billing amount.
- The total payment made by discoms to power generators stood at Rs.12,399 in April 2021. This was as much as 76 per cent higher than the Rs.7,057 crore worth of bills cleared by discoms in April 2020. This decline reflects lower billing by generators in April 2021 as compared with April 2020, as well as the fact that discoms have been clearing their outstanding dues at a faster pace in recent months.
- Of the total Rs.12,399 crore of payment made by discoms to generators in April 2021, as much as 77 per cent was towards clearing overdue amounts. If this trend continues, it would definitely result in a gradual reduction in overall outstanding payment position of discoms, in the medium to long term.
Featured chart sourced from the official “PRAAPTI” portal, www.praapti.in
