To improve the quality of data received from the state-owned power distribution companies (discoms), the Union power ministry is planning to build a master data management system like the GST Network (GSTN).
The system, according to sources, will be a centralised backend architecture which states can access. Power secretary Sanjiv Nandan Sahai is understood to have advised the states to consider this solution to reduce costs to improve the health of the discoms. The Union power ministry has also directed discoms to have a separate IT cadre with adequate staff at appropriate levels to ensure proper upkeep and availability of IT systems.
The system is being planned to address the issue of inferior quality of data the states supply to central government agencies, impairing the Union government’s ability to improve the health of discoms. In a recently held review-planning-monitoring meeting, the Union power ministry has asked discoms to furnish their data on the metering status of feeders and distributed transformers. Metering of these transformers can help in identifying the high loss making areas and help the government take pin-pointed action. Poor progress in transformer metering has been reported in West Bengal, Odisha, Rajasthan, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Bihar.
GSTN helped in better data management of revenue collection with the states agreeing to form an integrated database for tax information. It was not immediately clear if the power ministry’s proposed system would source data directly from the distribution/consumer meters, or will the state authorties upload them by themselves.
Poor data management of the state electricity departments have been a longstanding issue. An earlier report on the UDAY scheme prepared by KPMG had pointed out that Union power ministry agencies tend to struggle to reconcile data received from discoms. Experts have pointed out that states do not follow uniform formulae, and definitions of key parameters and manual data management leads to errors and delays. Inadequate governance, accountability and transparency at discoms and lack of large data management skills have also been attributed to inferior data quality.
For its UDAY portal, the power ministry has already cautioned the readers to be careful in interpreting the data. The figures are derived from the interim provisional data furnished by the states, which keep on changing. The Power Finance Corporation has not publicly furnished actual audited data on discom finances after FY16.