Telangana White Paper on Power: Total debt is Rs 81,516 Cr; Rs 28,842 Cr government dues

Hyderabad: White paper on the power sector was tabled by the Congress government in the Telangana Legislative Assembly today. The white paper shows that the financial status of the power sector is very alarming.

In the report tabled by deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka the total debt as on October 31, 2023 is Rs 81,516 crores. Of these debts Rs 30,406 crores is day to day working capital loan taken to pay dues to the generators that supplied the electricity.

Discoms which supply electricity

The accumulated losses incurred by Telangana Discoms have increased from Rs 12,186 crores from 2014 to Rs 62,461 cores in October 2023.

The TS Discoms have incurred a loss of Rs 11,103 crores in 2022-23.

The Power Finance Corporation reports the ranking of TS Discoms downgraded from B+ in 2015-16 to C- in 2021-22.

The total Net worth of Discoms in 2021-22 was – RS 30,876 crores.

TS Genco

The fixed assets of TSGENCO have increased from Rs.12,783 Cr to Rs.40,454 Cr, i.e. by a factor of 3.16 times. At the same time the borrowings of TSGENCO have increased from Rs. 7,662 Cr to Rs. 32,797 Cr i.e. by a factor of 4.28 times.

The other assets of TSGENCO mainly include receivables from Discoms of Rs. 9,743 Cr. There is corresponding amount due to SCCL of Rs.4,553 Cr. In addition, working capital loans have gone up to Rs.3,805 Cr.

TS Transco

Other assets mainly include borrowing made on behalf of Discoms totalling Rs.4,028 crores.

Reasons for financial difficulties

· The estimate adopted by TSERC for agricultural power is lesser than the estimate submitted by Discoms. Therefore, lesser subsidy for agriculture is being provisioned as per Tariff Order. The difference is resulting in financial burden on Discoms estimated at Rs 18,725 crores.

· Short term purchases for grid management and also the renewable energy like solar power has resulted in purchasing of power which has added to the burden

· True up charges which are for unavoidable circumstances for expensive power is also a burden on Discoms

· TSERC has approved power purchase true up of Rs. 12,550 crores for the years from 2016-17 to 2022-23. Government cannot charge this to the consumers as there will be a hue and cry. But the Discoms need to be paid this money as they have bought it at a higher price.

· Rs 2,378 crores are to be recovered from consumers which is Fuel Cost Adjustment in the future bills. This amount needs to be reimbursed and paid to the Discoms

Government departments not paid

The Government departments and projects that have not paid money for using electricity have added up to dues to the extent of Rs 28,842.72 crores. The major arreas of government departments are:

· Kaleshwaram and Other projects – Rs 14,193

· Irrigation department other services – Rs 92.04

· Mission Bhagiratha – Rs 3558.83

· Panchayat Raj Department – Major and Minor – Rs 4393

· HMWS &SB – Rs 3932.47

· Municipalities – RS 1657.81

Bad health of Discoms

Due to the expenditures and to meet the power needs of the state, Discoms are borrowing and supplying power. The cash deficit of Discoms every month is RS 1,386 crores. Discoms have to pay Singareni Collieries Company Limited an outstanding amount of Rs 19,431 crores. Discoms are now in a debt trap due to the failure of the government in paying its dues and its commitment to the sector.

The Congress government claimed that they are committed to provide quality and reliable power to the state by overcoming challenges faced by the sector due to previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi government’s imprudence.