POWER-PACKED AGENDA

Reforms in the power sector are key to meeting the exponential growth in demand for electricity

- ANILESH S. MAHAJAN

Reforms in the power sector typically have two main points of focus-make the state DISCOMs (distribution companies) efficient financially as well as operationally and accelerate the process of addition of generation capacity. AT&C (aggregate technical & commercial) losses have come down from 22.3 per cent in 2020/21 to 15.4 per cent in 2023/24, but still need to shrink further (some states continue to be laggards in this). Meanwhile, DISCOMS suffered financial losses to the tune of Rs 68,832 crore in 2022-23. The process of cleaning up the books, streamlining payments and instilling discipline in the GENCOS (generation companies) and TRANSCOS (transmission companies) is an ongoing one. The idea is to make DISCOMS sustainable and capable