The 12th edition of “Integrated Rating of Discoms” was released on March 11, 2024, at the hands of Union power minister R.K. Singh. The report suggests an overall improvement in the performance of discoms during FY23.
The 12th edition, which rates the performance of 55 electricity distribution utilities for the year 2022-23, gives 12 utilities the highest ranking of A+. In addition, two private utilities, TPNODL (Odisha) and DNHDDPDCL (Dadar, Nagar & Haveli, Daman & Diu) too have received A+ rating; however, they have not been included in the main ranking list since they have not completed three full years of operations.
The top five positions go to Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd. (AEML) of Maharashtra at first position, Torrent Power Surat of Gujarat at second position, Torrent Power Ahmedabad of Gujarat at third position, followed by Gujarat’s state power utilities Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Limited (DGVCL) and Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Limited (UGVCL) at fourth and fifth positions respectively.
Among the 42 state government power utilities which have been rated, 9 utilities belonging to Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have earned a rating of either A+ or A. All 11 private discoms have received a performance rating of either A+, A, B or B-.
In all, out of the 55 utilities which have been rated, 14 have received a performance rating of A+, 4 have received A, 7 have received B, 13 have received B-, 11 have received C and 6 have received the rating of C-. No utility has received the lowest rating of D.
Thrissur Corporation Electricity Department (TCED) emerges as top-performing state power department The 12th edition has also given integrated performance ratings to the power departments of 11 states and union territories. Among these, Thrissur Corporation Electricity Department (TCED) of Kerala has emerged on top, with a rating of A, followed by power departments of New Delhi Municipal Council at 2nd, Puducherry at 3rd, Goa at 4th and Nagaland at 5th positions, all with a rating of B.
In all, among the 11 power departments which figure in the performance ratings, no power department has received either the highest rating of A+ or the lowest rating of D.
Highlights of the 12th Edition of the Integrated Rating of Discoms
Some of the key findings of the 12th Edition of the Integrated Rating of Discoms are as given below.
- AT&C losses improved to 15.4 per cent in FY23, Billing Efficiency improved to 87.0 per cent and Collection Efficiency remained high at 97.3 per cent.
- Late Payment Surcharge Rules drove reduction in payables to generation and transmission companies. Days Payable reduced to 126 days and Days Receivable also reduced to 119 days.
- State governments disbursed 108 per cent of amounts booked for tariff subsidy during FY23. Further, a few states supported financial losses of discoms through subsidy grants, totaling to Rs.44,000 crore during the year.
- Average power purchase cost increased by 71 paise/kWh during FY23, driven by 8 per cent growth in power demand, more expensive coal imports and higher exchange prices especially during summers
- ACS-ARR gap, the cash-adjusted gap per unit energy, increased to 55 paise/kWh in FY23 due to purchase cost not being passed on fully to consumers.
(Source: Press Information Bureau)
