Discoms regulatory assets down by Rs 3,029 crore in 5 years
The power department official said the reforms included bringing efficiency in power supply as well as its distribution.
New Delhi: The power sector in Delhi has seen a steady decline in regulatory assets to Rs 8,377 crore over the last five years, helping the AAP government keep tariffs under check, an official said on Sunday.
“The transformation of Delhi’s power sector is best captured by the fact that tariff rates have continuously reduced in the last five years and are now the cheapest in the country, with round-the-clock power supply in all parts of Delhi,” said Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission vice-chairman Jasmine Shah.
“At the same time, the power discoms’ financial health has improved, as measured by the regulatory assets,” she added.
Regulatory assets include receivables from customers. The gap between expenses shown by power discoms and the revenue recovered from consumers would accumulate as regulatory assets (RAs) over the years.
Since 2008-09, the combined RAs of the three discoms in Delhi — BYPL, BRPL, and TPDDL — shot up drastically from `937 crore to `11,406 crore in 2014-15, an officer of the Delhi government’s power department said.
The RAs have registered a steady decline over the last five years from `11,406 crore in 2014-15 to `8,377 crore in 2018-19, showing a decline of `3,029 crore in that period, said the officer.
The combined RAs of the three discoms were `9,349 crore (2015-16); `8,919 crore (2016-17); `8,776 crore (2017-18); and `8,377 crore (2018-19).
“It’s important to understand that the Delhi government’s power subsidy scheme for lower and middle-income electricity consumers is not a standalone initiative. It is the result of the power reforms in entirety, which includes considerably bringing down regulatory assets and interventions like reducing losses,” Ms Shah said.
The Delhi government has fully subsidised monthly consumption of up to 200 units of electricity and extended 50 per cent subsidy to consumers in the range of 201-400 units.
“Ultimately, it’s a result of sheer political will and something that can be replicated in all parts of the country if the same will exists,” Ms Shah said.
The power department official said the reforms included bringing efficiency in power supply as well as its distribution.
“Large investments were made in the distribution infrastructure (transformers, etc.) to reliably connect all parts of Delhi to the grid. Several measures have been taken that have made Delhi’s DISCOMS today the most efficient ones in India,” the official said.
The financial health of discoms is majorly affected by the cost of power purchase and the factors that affect it. Several initiatives by the Delhi government and its SLDC (State Load Dispatch Centre) have brought this under control, he said. Due to upgradation of transmission infrastructure, average transmission and collection (AT&C) losses have substantially reduced in the last five years.
“For example, for BRPL, AT&C losses reduced from 17 per cent in 2013-14 to 8 per cent in 2018-19. Presently, discoms in Delhi have among the lowest AT&C losses in India,” he claimed.
Additionally, the Delhi government played a major role in enabling discoms to enter into purchasing agreements for 2,000 MW of renewable power at the lowest rates in the country of about `2.6 per unit, the officer said.