To meet the investment requirements in the power sector owing to rising demand, the government has suggested states and union territories to consider listing their power generation, transmission, and distribution companies on stock exchanges.
Union minister for power Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday said that the country’s power sector requires an estimated investment of Rs 42 lakh crore by 2030 to meet the growing demand.
This, he said, could be achieved by increasing the operational efficiencies of power utilities and the subsequent listing of power companies.
For such a big investment, in addition to increasing operational efficiencies, companies should also come forward for listing.
Companies in Gujarat and Haryana have come forward and informed that they are ready for listing. We have suggested to list transmission companies first, followed by generation companies and then discoms, he said.
However, after the listing, the main purpose of funding and investment will be fulfilled.
The minister also said that AT&C losses of discoms in the financial year 2023-24 increased to 17.6% compared to 15.4% in FY23.
The slippage is on account of shortfall of Rs 13,000 crore in government dues and subsidies, said power secretary Pankaj Agarwal.
To address the same, the government has suggested states to calculate the technical and commercial losses of discoms separately to allow dedicated solutions and methodologies to reduce losses.
Currently, the outstanding of discoms stands at Rs 6.84 lakh crore and the accumulated losses stands at Rs 6.46 lakh crore, as per government data.
Furthermore, to integrate renewable energy and reduce the dependence on fossil fuels, the government emphasised on increasing the storage capacity with target of 27 GW of pump storage capacity by 2032.
Another 12 GW of battery energy storage system is being installed, the secretary said. The Centre also asked states to promote nuclear power projects and look for adequate sites for such projects. Currently, 18 sites have been identified for possible nuclear power plants.
The government is targeting 20 GW of nuclear energy capacity by 2032 from the current capacity of 8 GW.
To boost smart meter installation, the government suggested offering concessional tariffs as an incentive.