At Rs 1.62 lakh crore, Tangedco has highest accumulated losses among state utilities
Data shared in Rajya Sabha shows that Tangedco's accumulated losses account for 25 per cent of all distribution utilities across India. As per the date, the total accumulated losses amount to Rs 6.47 lakh crore as of March 31, 2023.
Tangedco
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (Tangedco) has the dubious distinction of recording the highest accumulated loss of Rs 1.62 lakh crore till 2022-23 among State power distribution companies in the country.
Data shared in Rajya Sabha shows that Tangedco's accumulated losses account for 25 per cent of all distribution utilities across India. As per the date, the total accumulated losses amount to Rs 6.47 lakh crore as of March 31, 2023.
The accumulated losses incurred by Tangedco have increased by 157 per cent from Rs 63,162 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 1,62,507 crore in 2022-23. While the accumulated losses by all the utilities in the country have increased by 72 per cent from Rs 3.76 lakh crore in 2015-16 to Rs 6.47 lakh crore in 2022-23.
Rajasthan ranks second with accumulated losses totalling Rs 92,070 crore followed by Uttar Pradesh with Rs 91,632 crore.
Union Minister of State for Power Shripad Naik cited non-implementation of fuel and power purchase cost adjustment, delay in tariff orders, poor billing, and under-recovery of electricity dues of state government departments and subsidy amounts as causes of the drastic increase in the financial losses of state-owned power distribution companies.
A senior official in Tangedco said that even after hiking the electricity tariff thrice since September 2022, the utility continues to incur losses due to the significant interest burden accumulated from previous years.
In 2022-23, Tangedco recorded a loss of Rs 10,868 crore after incurring expenditure of Rs 13,450 crore as finance cost. In the financial year before that, the utility had recorded a loss of Rs 12,995 crore after spending Rs 10,923 crore on interest payments.
The official noted that due to tariff hikes and continuous efforts to reduce the interest burden the gap between the average cost of supply and average revenue recorded has been projected at Rs 0.49 per unit in 2024-25 while it was Rs 1.24 in the previous year.